

Glass. 
Book. 









D 



REMAINS 



REV. RICHARD CECIL, M. A. 

late rector of bisley, and vicar of chobham, surrey; and minister 
of st. John's chapel, Bedford row, London. 



TO WHICH TS PREFIXED, 

A VIEW OF HIS CHARACTER. 



BY JOSIAH PRATT, B.D.F.A.S, 



FROM THE ELEVENTH LONDON EDITION. 



NEW YORK : 

ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET: 

PITTSBURG— THOMAS CARTER. 

1843. 



M** 37 



XJbSy. of MiA 
OCT 14 tH* 



CONTENTS 



Introduction, .-_-----... 5 

View of the Character of the Rev. Richard Cecil, ... 7 

REMAINS. 

On the Christian Life and Conflict, - 55 

On Subjects connected with the Christian Ministry : — 

On a Minister's qualifying himself for his Office, - - 76 
On the Assistance which a Minister has reason to expect in 

in the Discharge of his Public Duty, 80 

On Preaching Christ, 83 

On a Minister's Familiar Intercourse with his Hearers, - 89 

On a Minister's encouraging Animadversion on Himself, 92 

On Limits, with regard to frequenting Public Exhibitions, 97 
On the means of promoting a Spirit of Devotion in Congre- 
gations, -------.-99 

On the Marriage of Christian Ministers, ... lot 

On visiting Death-Beds, 106 

Miscellaneous Remarks, HO 

On Infidelity and Popery, 127 

On a Christian's Duty in these Eventful Times, ... 134 

On Fortifying Youth against Infidel Principles, - 136 

On the Management of Children, 13!) 

On Family "Worship, - 142 

On the Influence of the Parental Character, - 146 

Remarks on Authors, - - -150 

On the Scriptures : — 

Miscellaneous Remarks on the Scriptures, - 157 

On the Old and New Dispensations, - 164 

On Typical and Allegorical Explanations of Scripture, - 166 

On the Diversity of Character in Christians, and on correcting 

the Defects in our Character, ---.-. 168 



iv CONTENTS. 

On the Fallen Nature of Man, 176 

On the Need of Grace, 178 

On the Occasions of Enmity against Christianity, - - 182 

On Religious Retirement, 185 

On a Spiritual Mind, ....--- - 189 

On Declension in Religion, ------- 192 

On a Christian's associating with Irreligious Persons for their 

good, - --------- 196 

On the Christian Sabbath, 197 

On Judging justly, - - 199 

On the Character of St. Paul, 202 

Miscellanies, 205 

APPENDIX. 

Remarks by Mr. Cecil, communicated to the Editor by some 

Friends, 235 

Some negative rules, given to a Young Minister, - - - 271 

Fragment— A Dying Minister's Farewell, - 275 

Lines on the Death of a Child at Day-break, - 282 



INTRODUCTION. 



" He that has the happy talent of parlor-preaching, " 
says Dr. Watts/ " has sometimes done more for Christ 
and souls in the space of a few minutes, than by the la- 
bor of many hours and days in the usual course of 
preaching in the pulpit. " 

On my first intercourse with Mr. Cecil, now upwards 
of fifteen years since., when in the full vigor of his mind, 
I was so struck with the wisdom and originality of his 
remarks, that I considered it my duty to record what 
seemed to me most likely to be useful to others. 

It should be observed that Mr. Cecil is made to speak 
often of himself: and, to persons who do not consider 
the circumstances of the case, there may appear much 
egotism in the, quantity of such remarks here put to- 
gether, and in the manner in which his tilings are said : 
but this will be treating him with the most flagrant in- 
justice ; for it must be remembered, that the remarks of 
this nature were chiefly made by him, from time to time, 
in answer to my particular inquiries into his judgment 
and habits on certain points of doctrine or practice. 

I have labored in recording those sentiments which I 
have gathered from him in conversation, to preserve ns 
much as possible his very expressions; and thej who 

* An humble attempt towards the revival of Religion.— Part I. Sec. 4. 

A 2 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

were familiar with his manner mil be able to judge,, in 
general, how far I have succeeded : but I would expli- 
citly disavow an exact verbal responsibility. For the 
sentiments I make myself answerable. 

In some instances, I have brought together observa- 
tions made at different times ; the reader is not, there- 
fore, to understand that the thoughts here collected on 
any subject always followed in immediate connexion. 



A VIEW 

OF 

THE CHARACTER 

OF THE 

REV. RICHARD CECIL. 



In depicting the personal and ministerial character 
of my departed friend, while I shall communicate occa- 
sionally the impressions made by him on my own mind, 
most of which were recorded at the time they were 
made, I shall endeavour to render him, as much as pos- 
sible, the portrayer of his own character, by detailing 
those descriptions of his views and feelings which I ga- 
thered from him. 

Nature, education and grace combine to form and 
model PERSONAL CHARACTER, of every Chris- 
tian. God gives to his reasonable creatures such physi- 
cal and intellectual constitution as he pleases ; education 
and circumstances hide or unfold, restrain or mature this 
constitution; and grace, while it regulates and sanctifies 
the powers of the man, varies its own appearances ac- 
cording to the varieties of those powers. And it is by the 
endless modifications and counteractions of these prin- 
ciples, that the Personal Character of a Christian is 
formed. 

It might have been expected from Mr. Cecil's earliest 
displays of character, that he was formed to be an in- 
strument of extensive evil or of eminent good. There 
was a decision — a daring — an untameableness in the 



8 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

structure of his mind even when a boy, combined with 
a tone of authority and command, and a talent in the ex- 
ercise of these qualities, to which the minds of his asso- 
ciates yielded an implicit subjection. Fear of conse- 
quences never entered into his view. Opposition espe- 
cially if accompanied by any thing like severity or op- 
pression, awakened unrelenting resistance. 

Yet this bold and untameahle spirit was allied to a no- 
ble and generous disposition. There was a magnifi- 
cence in his mind. While he was scrupulously delicate, 
perhaps even to some excess, on subjects entrusted to 
his secrecy, and on affairs in progress; yet he would ne- 
ver lend himself in his own concerns, or in those of 
others, to any thing that bordered on artifice and ma- 
noeuvre: for he had a native and thorough contempt of 
whatever was mean, little, and equivocating. That 
" honesty is the best policy" may be a strong, or the pre- 
vailing motive for uprightness with men of a lower tone 
of character ; but I question if it at all entered into the 
calculation with my great friend. His mind was too no- 
ble, to have recourse to other means, or to aim at other 
ends, than those which he avowed ; and too intrepid not 
to avow those which he did entertain, so far as might be 
required or expedient. 

His temptations were to the sins of the spirit, rather 
than to those of the flesh; and he possessed, all his life 
long, a superiority to the pleasures of mere sense not 
often seen. He was, indeed, temperate in all things — 
holding his bodily appetites in entire subjection. 

Sympathy with suffering was an eminent charac- 
teristic of Mr. Cecil's mind — a sympathy which sprung 
less from that softness and sensibility which are the or- 
nament of the female, than from the generosity of his 
disposition. He would have had all men happy. It 
gratified his generous nature to ease the burdens of suf- 
fering man. If any were afflicted by the visitations of 
God, he taught them to bow with submission, while he 
pitied and relieved: if the affliction were the natural 
and evident fruit of crimes, he admonished while he 



CHARACTER OF MR, CECIL. 9 

sympathised; if the sufferings of man or brute arose 
from the voluntary inflictions of others, he was indig- 
nant against the oppressor. 

Such was the intrepid and noble, yet humane mind, 
which was trained by Divine Grace, under a long course 
of moral discipline, for eminent usefulness in the Church 
of God. Mr. Cecil's intellectual endowments will be 
spoken of hereafter. At present, I shall trace the rise 
and the advances of his Christian character. 

He had early religious impressions. These were first 
received from Janeway's "Token for Children," which 
his mother gave him when was about six years of age. 
"I was much affected by this book," said he, "and recol- 
lect that I wept, and got into a corner, where I prayed 
that I also might have an 6 interest in Christ,' like one of 
the children there mentioned, though I did not know 
what the expression meant." 

Those impressions of childhood wore away. He fell 
into the follies and vices of youth ; and by degrees be- 
gan to listen to infidel principles, till he avowed himself 
openly an unbeliever. He lias alluded frequently in his 
writings to this criminal part of his history ; but I shall 
add some paragraphs on this point partly in his own 
words. 

He was suffered to proceed to awful lengths in infide- 
lity. The natural daring of his mind allowed him to do 
nothing by halves. Into whatever society he enlisted 
himself, he was its leader. He became even an apostle 
of infidelity — anxious to banish the scruples of more 
cautious minds, and to carry them all lengths with his 
own. And he was too successful. In after life he has 
met more than one of these converts, who have laughed 
at all his affectionate and earnest attempts to pull down 
the fabric erected too much by his own I Kinds. Yet he 
was never wholly sincere in his infidelity. — lie has left 
a most impressive and encouraging testimony to the 
power of Parental Influence in preserving his mind, undei 
the grace of God, from entirely believing his own lie.* 

* See Remains: on the [nfluence of the Parental Character. 



10 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

He gave me a farther instance of the power of con- 
science in this respect : — 

" When I was sunk in the depths of infidelity, I was 
afraid to read any author who treated Christianity in a 
dispassionate, wise and searching manner. He made 
me uneasy. Conscience would gather strength. 1 found 
it more difficult to stifle her remonstrances. He would 
recal early instructions and impressions, while my happi- 
ness could only consist with their obliteration." 

Yet he appears to have taken no small pains to rid 
himself of his scruples; — "I have read," said he, "all the 
most acute and learned and serious infidel writers, and 
have been really surprised at their poverty. The pro- 
cess of my mind has been such on the subject of revela- 
tion, that I have often thought Satan has done more for 
me than for the best of them; for I have had, and could 
have produced, arguments, that appeared to me far 
more weighty than any I ever found in them against 
Revelation." 

He did not proceed in this career of sin without occa- 
sional checks of conscience. Take the following in- 
stance ; — 

" My father had a religious servant. 1 frequently 
cursed and reviled him. He would only smile on me. 
That went to my heart. I felt that he looked on me as 
a deluded creature. I felt that he thought he had some- 
thing which I knew not how to value, and that he was 
therefore greatly my superior. I felt there was a real 
dignity in his conduct. It made me appear little even in 
my own eyes. If he had condescended to argue with 
me, I could have cut some figure ; at least by compar- 
ison, wretched as it would have been. He drew me 
once to hear Mr. Whitefield. I was 17 or 18 years old. 
It had no sort of religious effect on' me, nor had the 
preaching of any man in my unconverted state. My re- 
ligion began in contemplation. Yet I conceived a high 
reverence for Mr. Whitefield. I no longer thought of 
him as the "Dr. Squintum" we were accustomed to 
buffoon at school. I saw a commanding and irresistable 
effect, and he made me feel my own insignificance." 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 11 

For this daring offender, however, God had mercy in 
reserve ! He was the child of many tears, instructions, 
admonitions, and prayers ; and, though now a prodigal, 
he was to be recovered from his wickedness ! 

While under the control of bad principles, he gave in- 
to every species of licentiousness — saving that, even 
then, the native nobleness of his mind made him despise 
whatever he thought mean and dishonorable. Into this 
state of slavery he was brought by his sin ; but here the 
mercy of God taught him some most important lessons, 
which influenced his views and governed his ministry 
through after life, and the same mercy then rescued him 
from the slavery to which he had submitted. The pene- 
tration and grandeur of his mind, which his natural su- 
periority to sensual pleasures, made him feel the little- 
ness of every object which engages the ambition and the 
desires of the carnal man : insomuch that God had given 
him, in this unusual way of bringing him to himself, a 
thorough disgust of the world before he had gained any 
hold of higher objects and better pleasures. 

It was thus that God prepared him for further com- 
munications of mercy. And here he felt the advantage 
of having been connected with sincere Christians. He 
knew them to be holy, and he felt that they were 
happy. "It was one of the first things," said he, "which 
struck my mind in a profligate state, that, in spite of all 
the folly and hypocrisy and fanaticism which may be 
seen among religious professors, there was a mind after 
Christ, a holiness, a heavenliness, among real Chris- 
tians." He added on another occasion, " My first con- 
victions on the subject of religion were confirmed from 
observing that really religious persons had some solid 
happiness among them, which I had felt that the vanities 
of the world coufd not give. 1 shall never forgot stand- 
ing by the bed of my sick mother. 'Are not you afraid 
to die?' I asked her; 'No.' •No!' 'Why does the un- 
certainty of another state give you no concern?' 'Be- 
cause God has said to me, Fear not : when thou passest 
through the waters I will be with thee; and through tit:' 



12 CHARACTER OF MR, CECIL, 

rivers they shall not overflow thee. 9 The remembrance 
of this scene has oftentimes since drawn an ardent 
prayer from me, that I might die the death of the righ- 
teous." 

His mind opened very gradually to the truths of the 
Gospel: and the procsss through which he was led is a 
striking evidence of the imminence of his past danger. 
" My feelings," he said, "when I was first beginning to 
recover from my infidelity, prove that I had been suffer- 
ed to go great lengths ; and, to a very awful degree to 
believe my own lie. My mind revolted from Christi- 
anity. God did not bring me to himself, by any of the 
peculiar motives of the Gospel. When I was about 
twenty years old, I became utterly sick of the vanity, 
and disgusted with the folly, of the world. I had no 
thought of Jesus Christ, or of Redemption. .The very 
notion of Jesus Christ or of Redemption repelled me. I 
could not endure a system so degrading. I thought 
there might possibly be a Supreme Being ; and if there 
were such a being, he might hear me when I prayed. 
To worship the Supreme Being seemed somewhat digni- 
fied. There was something grand and elevating in the 
idea. But the whole scheme and plan of redemption ap- 
peared mean, and degrading, and dishonorable to man. 
The New Testament, in its sentiments and institutions, 
repelled me; and seemed impossible to be believed, 
as a religion suitable to man. 

The grace of God triumphed, however over all oppo- 
sition. The religion which began in this disgust with 
the world and disaffection to the peculiar doctrines of 
the Gospel, made rapid advances in his mind. The seed 
sown in tears by his inestimable mother, though long bu- 
ried, now burst into life, and shot forth with vigor: and 
he became a preacher of that truth, which once he la- 
boured to destroy. Yet grace did not anihilate the na- 
tural character and qualities of the mind: though it 
regulated and directed them. The Christian's feelings 
and experience were modified by the constitution of the 
man. After a long course of spiritual watchfulness and 
warfare, he spoke thus of himself: 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL, 13 

* There is what Bacon calls a dry light, in which 
subjects are viewed, without any predilection, or pas- 
sion, or emotion, but simply as they exist. This is 
very much my character as a Christian. I have great 
constitutional resistance. Tell me such a thing is my 
duty— I know it is, but there I stop. Talk to me of 
hell — my heart would rise with a sort of daring stub- 
bornness. There is a constitutional desperation about 
me, which was the most conspicuous feature in my cha- 
racter when young, and which has risen up against the 
gracious measures which God has all my life taken to 
subdue and break it. I feel I can do little in religion 
without encouragement. I am persuaded and satis- 
fied, tied and bound, by its truth and importance and 
value ; but I view the subject in a dry light. A strong 
sense of divine friendship goes a vast way with me. 
When I fall, God will raise me. When I want, God 
will provide. When I am in perplexity, God will deli- 
ver. He cares for me — pities me — bears with me — ■ 
guides me — loves me !" 

But the energy of Divine Grace was most conspicu- 
ous, in the control and mastery of this resisting and high 
spirit of which our friend complained. Nay, if there 
were any one Christian virtue in which he was more 
advanced than any other, it appears to me to have 
been humility — not that humility which debases itself 
that it may be exalted, and which is offended if its pro- 
fessions be believed : but the humility which arose from 
an abiding and growing conviction of his infinite dis- 
tance from the standard of perfection, and the little 
comparative use which he had made of his many means 
and helps in approaching that standard — a humility 
that expressed itself, therefore, in a teachableness of 
mind,* a ready acknowledgment of excellence in others, 

* " A friend, who knew him for thirty or forty years, has informed 
me," «ays Mr. Wilson, in the sermons preached on oocasionof Mr. 
Cecil's death, " that lie was more ready to hear of his faults from per- 
sons whom he esteemed, than most men. When any failings were 
pointed out to him, he usually thanked the reprover, and anxiously in- 



14 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

and a candor in judging of other persons which are sel - 
dom equalled ; and which were rare endowments in a 
mind that could not but feel its own powers, and its su- 
periority to that of most other men. But God has a 
thousand unseen methods of forming and cherishing 
those graces in his servants, which seems most opposed 
to their constitution, and least to be expected in their 
circumstances. 

Mr. Cecil gave me one day the following remarkable 
illustration of this subject in his own case: — It is a nice 
question in casuistry: — How far a man may feel compla- 
cency in the exercise of talent. A hawk exults on his 
wing; he skims and sails, delighting in the conscious- 
ness of his powers. I know nothing of this feeling. Dis- 
satisfaction accompanies me, in the study and in the 
pulpit. I never made a sermon with which I felt sa- 
tisfied. I never preached a sermon, with which I felt 
satisfied. 1 have always present to my mind such a con- 
ception of what might be done, and I sometimes hear 
the thing so done, that what I do falls very far beneath 
what it seems to me it should be. Some sermons 
which I have heard have made me sick of my own for a 
month afterwards. Many ministers have no concep- 
tion of any thing beyond their own world: they com- 
pare themselves only with themselves ; and perhaps 
they must do so; if I could give them my views of their 
ministry, without changing the men, they would be ruin- 
ed ; while now they are eminent instruments in God's 
hands. But some men see too much beyond themselves 
for their own comfort. Perhaps complacency in the 
exercise of talent, be it what it may, is hardly to be se- 
parated, in such a wretched heart as man's, from pride. 
It seems to me that this dissatisfaction with myself, is 
the messenger sent to buffet me and keep me down. In 
other men, the separation between complacency and 

quired for further admonitions. I have observed myself, that, when he 
gave advice, which he did with acuteness and decision, he was quite su- 
perior to that litde vanity which is offended if the counsel be not followed." 



CHARACTER OF MR, CECIL. 15 

pride may be possible; but I scarcely think it is so 
in me, 



* 



I have alluded to Mr. Cecil's ready acknowledg- 
ment of the worth of others ; and I must add, that 
he cultivated that discrimination of excellence, which 
leads a man to discover and esteem it in the midst of 
imperfections. He had an unfeigned regard to real 
worth, wherever it was found. The powers of the un- 
derstanding have often fascinated men of inferior wis- 
dom, and lessened the odiousness of an immoral state 
of heart too plainly seen in others; but if the excellencies 
of the head and the heart must be disjoined, he never 
failed to value that which is most truly valuable. He 
would say— "Such a friend of ours is what many men* 
look down on, as a weak man ; but I honor his wisdom 
and his devotedness. He throws himself out, and all 
the powers which God has given him, into the service 
of his Master, in all those ways which seem to him best ; 
and, though perhaps he and I should forever differ on 
the best way, and though I see in him many peculiari- 
ties and weaknesses, yet I honor and love the man ; I 
revere his simplicity and his piety. He is what God 
has made him ; and all that he is he puts into action for 
God." If Mr. Cecil was at any time severe in his re- 
marks on others, his severity was chiefly directed 
against that ignorant vanity and affectation, which push 
a man forward where great men would retire, and which 
make him dogmatical where wise men would speak 
with humility and candor. 

Closely allied with his humility, was that openness to 
conviction, which Mr Cecil possessed in an unusual de- 
gree. He had dived so deeply into his own heart, and 
had read man so accurately — his short-sightedness, his 

* Mr. Churton has a remark on Dr. Johnson, somewhat of a similar 
nature to this of Mr. C. on himself. He dunks thai tl Johnson's morbid 
melancholy and constitutional Infirmities were intended by Providence, 
like St. Paul's thorn in the flesh, to check intellectual conceit and arro 
gance; which the consciousness of his extraordinary talents, awake as he 
v, aa to the voice of praise, might otherwise have generated in a very < % ni- 
pable degree." — BoswelVs Life of Joknson t %d Ed. 8vo. vol. ui. p. 5o4. 



16 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

scanty span, his pride, and his passions —that he was, 
more than most men, superior to that little feeling which 
makes us quit the scholar's form. Many men speak of 
themselves and of all around them as in a state of pu- 
pilage and childhood, but I never approached a man, on 
whose mind this conviction had a more real and prac- 
tical influence. 

DrsiNTERESTEDNKss was a pre-eminent characteristic 
of Mr. Cecil as a Christian. His whole spirit and eon- 
duct spoke one language ; — " Let me and mine be noth- 
ing, so that thy kingdom may come !" His disinterest- 
edness was grounded on his conviction of the absolute 
nothingness of all earthly good, compared with the 
glory of Christ and the interests of his kingdom. In all 
pecuniary transactions of a private or public nature, he 
was governed by this principle ; and made a free and 
cheerful sacrifice of what he might have lawfully ob- 
tained, if he thought his receiving it would impede his 
usefulness. 

On one occassion of this nature, he explained the no- 
ble principle on which he acted : — " A Christian is called 
to refrain from some things, which, though actually 
right, yet will not bear a good appearance to all men. 
1 once judged it my duty to refuse a considerable sum 
of money, which I might lawfully and fairly have re- 
ceived, because I considered that my account of the 
matter could not be stated to some, to whom a different 
representation would be made. A man who intends to 
stand immaculate, and, like Samuel, to come forward and 
say — Whose ox or whose ass have I taken ? must count 
the cost. I knew that my character was worth more 
to me than this sum of money. By probity, a man 
honors himself. It is the part of a wise man, to wave 
the present good for the future increase. A Merchant 
suffers a large quantity of goods to go out of the king- 
dom to a foreign land, but he has his object in doing so ; 
he knows by calculation, that he shall make so much 
more advantage by them. A Christian is made a wise 
man by counting the cost. The best picture I know 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 17 

of the exercise of this virtue, drawn by the hand of 
man, is that by JohnBunyaninthe characters of Passion 
and Patience. 

Associated with this disinterestedness of spirit, was a 
singular practical reliance on providence, in all the 
most minute and seemingly indifferent affairs of his 
life. He was emphatically, to use his own expression, 
"a pupil of signs'* — waiting for and following the lead- 
ings and openings of divine providence in his affairs. 1 
once consulted him throughout a very delicate, and per- 
plexing affair. In ..one stage of it, he said to me, "you 
have not done this thing exactly as I should have felt 
my mind led to do it. I feel myself in such cases like 
a child in the middle of an intricate and perplexed 
wood. Two considerations weigh with me : first — If 
I could see all the involutions, and relations, and bear- 
ings, and consequences of the affair, then I might feel 
myself able to move forward: but secondly— I know 
not one of them, not even the shadow of one, nay, 
hardly the probability of such and such issues. Then 
I am driven to simple reliance. I have never found 
God fail me in such cases. When I am utterly lost 
and confounded, I look for openings, clear and evident to 
my own conviction. I have a warrant for all this. 
Our grand danger with reference to Providence, is, that 
we should walk as men: — Are ye not carnal and walk 
as men ?.' 

On another occasion he said, — we make too little of 
the subject of Providence. My mind is by nature so 
intrepid and sanguine, and it has so often led me to anti* 
cipate God in his guidings, to my severe loss, that per- 
haps I am now too suspicious and dilatory in following 
him. However, this is a maxim with me — that, when 
I am waiting with a simple, childlike spirit for openings 
and guidings, and imagine I perceive them, God would 
either prevent the semblance of them from rising up 
before me, if these were not his leadings in reality, 
or he would preserve me from deeming them such ; and 

b 2 



18 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

therefore I always follow what appears to be my duty 
without hesitation." 

But the spring of all these Christian virtues, and the 
master-grace of his mind, was faith. His whole spi- 
rit and character were a living illustration of that defi- 
nition of the apostle — Faith is the substance of things 
hoped for, the evidence of things unseen! He appeared 
to me never to be exercised with doubts and fears. 
His magnanimity entered most strikingly into his reli- 
gious character. He was convinced and satisfied by all 
the divine declarations and promises — and he left him- 
self, with unsuspecting confidence, in God's hands.* 

I quote Mr. Wilson's testimony to the patience of 
our friend under afflictions. " He was not only, in 
opposition to all the tendencies of his natural dispositions, 
resigned, but cheerful under his trials. I have seen him 
repeatedly at his living in the country, return from his 
ride racked with pain : pale, emaciated, speechless. I 
have seen him throw himself all along upon his sofa, on 
his face, and cover his forehead with his hands ; and 
there, without an expression of complaint, endure the pa- 
roxysm of his disorder : and I have been astonished to 
observe him rise up in an instant, with his wonted dignity, 
and enter upon conversation with cheerfulness and vigor. 
He has often acknowledged to me, that the anguish 
he felt was like a a dagger plunged into his side, and 
that through a whole summer he has not had two nights 
free from tormenting pain. Such were his sufferings 
for ten or twelve years previous to his last illness. And 
yet this was the man, or rather this was the Christian, 
from whose lips I never heard a murmuring word. 

* M r. Wilson justly remarks of our friend, that " the determination 
and grandeur of his mind displayed his faith to peculiar advantage. 
This divine principle quite realized and substantiated to him the things 
which are not seen and eternal. It was absolutely like another sense. 
The things of time were as nothing. Every thing that came before him 
was referred to a spiritual standard. His one great object was fixed, 
and this object engrossed his whole soul. Here his foot stood immove- 
able, as on a rock. His hold on the truths of the Scriptures was so firm, 
that he acted on them boldly and unreservedly. He went all lengths, 
and risked all consequences, on the word and promise of God." 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 19 

It is almost needless to add that Mr. Cecil possessed 

REMARKABLE DECISION OF CHARACTER. When he Went 

to Oxford he had made a resolution of restricting him- 
self to a quarter of an hour daily, in playing on the 
violin ; on which instrument he greatly excelled, and of 
which he was extravagantly fond : but he found it imprac- 
ticable to adhere to his determination; and had so fre- 
quently to lament the loss of time in this fascinating 
amusement, that with the noble spirit which characterized 
him through life, he cut his strings, and never afterward 
replaced them. He studied for a painter ; and, after he 
had changed his object, retained a fondness and a taste 
for the art : he was once called to visit a sick lady, in 
whose room there was a painting which so strongly 
attracted his notice, that he found his attention diverted 
from the sick person, and absorbed by the painting: 
from that moment he formed the resolution of mortify- 
ing a taste, which he found so intrusive, and so obstruc- 
tive to him in his nobler pursuits; and determined never 
afterwards to frequent the exhibition. 

Nor was his intrepid and inflexible firmness les3 
conspicuous, whenever the interests of truth and the 
honor of Christ were concerned. The world in arms 
would not have appalled him, while the glory of Christ 
was in his view. Nor do I believe that he would have 
hesitated for a moment, after he had given to nature her 
just tribute of feeling and of tears, to go forth from his 
family and ''join the noble army of martyrs" who ex- 
pired in the flames in Smithfield, had the honor of his 
Master called him to this sacrifice; nor would his knees 
have trembled, nor his look changed. .- •- 

Yet I cannot but add that this firmness never degene- 
rated into rudeness. He knew and observed all those 
decencies of life, which render mutual intercourse 
agreeable ; and he had that ease of manner, among ail 
classes of society, which bespoke perfect self-possession 
and a thorough knowledge of the world. His address 
in meeting the manners and habits of thinking of persons 
of rank, cither when they were inquiring into religion 
or under affliction was perhaps scarcely to be equalled. 



20 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

The associations in our friend's mind were often of a 
very humorous kind. He had a strong natural turn for 
associations of this nature, which threw a great vivacity 
and charm over his familiar conversation — employed as 
it was. in the main, like every faculty of his mind, for 
useful ends. He was fully aware, however of the dan- 
ger of possessing such a faculty, and the temptations to 
which it exposed him : prompted and supported as it 
was by a buoyancy of spirits, which even great and 
lengthened pain could scarcely subdue. I have looked 
at him. and listened to him. with astonishment — when, 
meeting with a few other young men occasionally at his 
house, we have found him dejected and worn out with 
pain — stretched on his sofa, and declining to join in our 
conversation — till he caught an interest in what was 
passing — when the question of an enquiring or burdened 
conscience has roused him to an exertion of his great 
mind — be has risen from his sofa — he has forgot his suf- 
ferings—and he has left us nothing to do but to admire 
and treasure up most profound and impressive remarks 
on the Scripture, on the heart, and on the world. — ■ 

The mention of his humor and his vivacity of spirit 
leads me to remark, that I am not writing a panegyric, 
but drawing a character. No likeness can be faithful, 
while the best original is such as he must be in the pre- 
sent state, if it carry no shades. I have no wish to con- 
ceal the shades of this extraordinary character. Stern- 
ness and levity were the two constitutional evils, which 
most severely exercised him. They seem to have been 
the necessary result, in an imperfect being, of the union of 
that masculine and original vigor with humor and an 
ardent fancy, which met in the structure of his mind. 
So far, indeed, had grace triumphed over these consti- 
tutional enemies, that the very opposite features were 
the most prominent in his character ; and no one could 
approach him without feeling himself with a most ten- 
der and serious mind. I speak of those occasional 
ebullitions, which tended to remind him. that, though he 
was invested with a new and triumphant nature, he was 
yet at home in the body, and subject to the recurrence 
of his constitutional infirmities. 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 21 

Yet, though Mr. Cecil felt occasionally temptations 
to levity, through the buoyancy and spring of his ani- 
mal spirits, his prevailing temper was of a quite oppo- 
site description. A sensibility of spirit, with his view 
of human nature and of the world, threw a cast of 
melancholy over his mind. He was far more disposed 
to weep over the guilt and misery of man, than to smile 
at his follies. "I have," said he, "a salient principle in 
me. My spirits never sink. Yet I have a strong dash 
of melancholy. It is a high and exqusite feeling. When 
1 first awake in the morning, I could often weep with 
pleasure. The holy calm— the silence- — the freshness 
— thrill through my soul. At such moments I should 
feel the presence of any person to be intrusion and im- 
pertinence, and common affairs, to be nauseous. The 
stillness of an empty house is paradise to me. The 
man who has never felt thus cannot be made to under- 
stand what I mean." --» 

" Hooker's dying thought," he added, is "congenial to 
my spirit. ' I am going to leave a world disordered, 
and church disorganized, for a world and a church 
where every angel and every rank of angels stand be- 
fore the throne in the very post God has assigned them.' 
I am obliged habitually to turn my eye from the wretch- 
ed disorders of the world and the church, to the beauty, 
harmony, meekness, and glory of a better world." 

On another occasion, he said — " I have been long in 
the habit of viewing every thing around me as in a state 
of alienation. I have no hold on my dearest comforts. 
My children must separate from me. One has his lot 
cast in one place, and another elsewhere. It'may be my 
particular leading, but I have never leaned toward my 
comforts without finding them give way. A sharp 
warning has met me — ' These arc aliens, and as an alien 
live thou among them.' We may use our comforts by 
the way. We may take up the pitcher to drink, but 
the moment we begin to admire, God in love will dash it 
to pieces. But I feel no such alienation from the church. 
I am united to Christ, and to all his glorified and living 
members, bv an indissoluble bond. Here my mind can 



22 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

centre and sympathize, without suspicion or fear." 

"I feel," he would say " a congeniality with the char- 
acter of Jeremiah. I seem to understand him. I could 
approach him, and feel encouraged to familiarity. It is 
not so with Elijah or Ezekiel. There is a rigor or se- 
verity about them, which seem to repel me to a dis- 
tance, and excite reverence rather than sympathy and 
love." 

In a very interesting case on which I consulted him, 
he gave me a striking view of this feature in his char- 
acter — " I should have fallen myself into an utterly dif- 
ferent mode of conducting the affair. But you have 
not the melancholy in your constitution which I have, 
and thefore to look for my mode of thinking in you, 
would be expecting what ought not to be expected. 
This is a strong alternative in your dispensation. Now 
I have long been in the habit of viewing every thing of 
that aspect rather in a melancholy light. You are 
standing on the justice, the reason, the truth of your 
cause. I should have heard God saying — < Son of man, 
follow me.' It would have led me into a speculative — 
mystical sort of way. I should have seen in it the 
flood that is sweeping over the earth — the utter bank- 
ruptcy of all human affairs. Most men, if they had stood 
by and compared our conduct, would have commended 
yours as rational, but condemned mine as enthusiastic — 
as connecting things together which had no proper 
connexion ; but this is my way of viewing every alter- 
ative in my dispensation." 

" The heart," said he, " must be divorced from its idols. 
Age does a great deal in curing the man of his frenzy ; 
but, if God has a special work for a man, he takes a 
shorter and sharper course with him. Stand ready for 
it. I have been in both schools. Bleeding and cauter- 
izing have done much for me ; and age has done much 
also — Can I any longer taste what I eat or what 1 
drink?" 

Though the Memoir of Mr. Cecil's life, and the Let- 
ters which are subjoined, bear ample testimony to the 

TENDERNESS OF HIS RELATIVE AFFECTTONS, yet I Cannot 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 23 

but add here what a friend wrote on visiting him, many 
years before his decease, at a time when he was ex- 
pecting the death of Mrs. Cecil :— " Mrs. Cecil was ill. 
1 called on Mr. Cecil. I found him in his study, sitting 
over his Bible in great sorrow. His tears fell so fast, 
that he could only utter broken sentences. He said, 
'Christians do well to speak of the grace, love, and 
goodness of God ; but we must remember that he is a 
holy and jealous God. Judgment must begin at the 
house of God. This severe stroke is but a farther call 
to me to arise and shake myself. My hope is still firm 
in God. He who sends the stroke, will bear me up un- 
der it ; and I have no doubt but if I saw the whole of 
his design, I should say, ' Let her be taken !' Yet, while 
there is life, I cannot help saying, ' Spare her another 
year, that I may be a little prepared for her loss P I 
know I have higher ground of comfort: but I shall 
deeply feel the taking away of the dying lamp. Her 
excellence as a wife and a mother, I am obliged to 
keep out of sight, or I should be overwhelmed. All I 
can do, is, to go from text to text, as a bird from spray 
to spray. Our Lord said to his disciples, where is your 
faith? God has given her to be my comfort these 
many years, avd shall I not trust him for the future? 
This is only a farther and more expensive education 
for the work of the ministry: it is but saying more 
closely, 'will you pay the price?' If she should die, I 
shall request all my friends never once to mention her 
name to me. I can gather no help from what is called 
friendly condolence. Job's friends understood grief bet- 
ter, when they sat down and spake not a word." 

Our departed friend was, at once, a public and a re- 
tired man. While his sacred office, exercised for ma- 
ny years in a conspicuous sphere brought him much 
before the world, his turn of mind was retired — lie court- 
ed solitude — he held converse there with God, and his 
own great spirit mingled with the mighty dead ; he had 
such a practical knowledge and deep impression of the 
nothingness of the whole world compared with spiritual 
and eternal realities, and he had so deeply felt and sv> 



24 CHARACTER OF MR* CECIL. 

thoroughly despised its lying pretensions to meet the 
wants and to satisfy the longings of the immortal soul, 
that it was no sacrifice to him to turn away from the 
shows and pursuits of life, and to shut out all the splen- 
dor and seductions of the world. 

Yet this retired spirit was not unsocial, morose, or 
repulsive. No one called him from his retirement to 
ask spiritual counsel, but he was met with tenderness 
and urbanity. No congenial mind encountered his, 
without eliciting sparks both of benevolence and wisdom. 
Not a child in his family could carry its little com- 
plaints to him, but he would stop the career of his mind 
to listen and relieve. 

His study was his favorite retreat. His station ex- 
posed him to constant interruption, some necessary and 
others arising from the injudiciousness of those who ap- 
plied to him. It was not unusual with him to make use 
of his power of abstraction on these occasions. Time 
was too valuable to be lavished away on the inconsid- 
eration of some of those, who thought it necessary to 
call on him. It was generally his practice, not imme- 
diately to obey a summons from his study, but when he 
knew he had to do with persons who would occupy 
much of his time by a long conversation before the busi- 
ness was brought forward, rather than hurt their feel- 
ings he would carry down in his mind the train of 
thought which he was pursuing in his study, and, while 
that which was beside the purpose played on his ear, 
his mind was following the subject on which it had en- 
tered before. 

Some men are at home in society ; the wide world 
is their dwelling-place ; they are known and read of all 
men ; they have a peculiar talent for improving mixed 
society. But this was not the character of Mr. Cecil. 
He unfolded himself, indeed, to his friends ; but those 
friends could not but feel, that, when they broke in on 
his retirement for any other objects than what were 
connected with his high calling, they were intruders on 
inestimable time. I had indeed, the privilege and hap- 
piness of free access to him at all times, for a consider- 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 25 

able course of years, while I was his assistant in the 
ministry; but, for the reasons just assigned, though I 
was a diligent observer of his mind and habits, I feel 
myself not prepared to speak fully of his more domes- 
tic and retired character. 

" Retirement," he said, "is my grand ordinance. Con- 
siderations govern me. Death is a mighty considera- 
tion with me. The utter vanity of every thing under 
the sun is another. If a man wishes to influence my 
mind, he must assign considerations; and if he assigns 
one or two which will weigh well, I seem impatient to 
stop him if he is proceeding to assign more. He has 
given me a consideration, and that suffices. The 
'Night Thoughts' is a great book with me, notwith- 
standing its glaring imperfections, it realizes death and 
vanity. And, because this is the frame and habit of my 
own mind, my ministry partakes of it : and must par- 
take of it, if I would preach naturally and from my 
heart." 

In surveying the personal character of Mr. Cecil, it 
remains to speak somewhat more fully of his intellectual 
powers. 

His imagination was not so much of the playful and 
elegant, as bold, inventive, striking, and instinctively ju- 
dicious and discriminating. 

His tastg in the sister arts of Painting, Poetry, and 
Music was refined, and his judgment learned. In his 
younger days he had studied and excelled in painting 
and music ; and, though he laid them aside that he 
might devote all his powers to his work, yet the savor 
of them so far remained, that I have been witness innu- 
merable times, both in public and private, to the feli- 
city of his illustrations drawn from these subjects, and 
to the superiority that his intimate knowledge of them 
gave him over most persons with whom they happened 
to be brought forward. His taste, when young, was 
for Italian music ; but, in his latter years, he was fond 
of the German style, or rather the softer Moravian. 
Anthems, or any pieces wherein the words were reiter- 
ated, he disliked, for public worship especially, as they 

c 



26 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

sacrificed the real spirit of devotion too much to the 
music. His feelings on this subject were exquisite. 
"Pure, spiritual, sublime devotion," he would say," should 
be the soul of public music." He often lamented the 
introduction of any other style of architecture in places 
of worship, beside that which was so peculiarly appro- 
priate, and which, because it was so, called up associa- 
tions best suited to the purposes of meeting. He said 
most strikingly — " I never enter a Gothic church, with- 
out feeling myself impressed with something of this idea 
— " Within these walls has been resounded for centuries, 
by successive generations, * Thou art the King of Glory, 

Christ ! The very damp that trickles down the walls, 
aud the unsightly green that moulders upon the pillars, 
are far more pleasing to me from their associations, than 
the trim, finished, classic, heathen piles of the present 
fashion." 

His powers of comparison, analogy, and Judgment 
have been rarely equalled. These had been exercised 
so long and with so much energy on all the conditions 
and relations around him — on the word of God — on his 
own mind — on the history, opinions, passions, prejudices, 
and motives of men in every age, and of every charac- 
ter and station — on moral causes and effects — on every 
subject that can come within the grasp of a philosophic 
mind — that the result was a wisdom so prominent and 
commanding, that every man felt himself with a mind 
of the very first order both in capability and acquire- 
ment. In some cases, wherein my wishes, perhaps, 
formed my opinions : and, trying to hide the truth from 
myself, I have asked his opinion as a confirmation of my 
own — he has unmasked my heart to itself, by his wise 
and searching replies. His decisions were more ac- 
cording to circumstances than in most men; and when 
he gave them, it would generally be with a declaration 
that other circumstances might wholly change the as- 
pect of the thing; and he did this in such a manner — if 

1 may judge by my own case — as often to make a man 
look about him, and bethink himself what a treacherous 
and blind party he had to transact with in his bosom. 



CHARCATER OF MR. CECIL. 27 

To those who did not know him intimately, he might 
sometimes appear to want a -quickness of perception. 
The appearance of this faculty is often assumed, where 
God has not given it. Where the mind does decide ra- 
pidly, its conclusions are generally partial and defective, 
in proportion to their rapidity. Intuition is not a faculty 
of the present condition of being, whatever it may be 
of that toward which wo are advancing. He affected 
no such quality, yet he possessed more of it than most 
men. When he did not fully understand what was ad- 
dressed to him, he said so ; and his mind was so fami- 
liar with the difficulty of discovering the truth through 
the veils and shades thrown over her by prejudice and 
self-love, that he did not hastily bring himself to think 
that he possessed your full meaning. 

His good sense and wisdom led him to avow all pe- 
culiarity and eccentricity. He was decidedly ad- 
verse to every thing of this nature. " When any thing 
peculiar appears," he would say, " in a religious man's 
manners, or dress, or furniture, this is supposed by the 
world to constitute his religion. A clergyman indeed is 
allowed by common consent, and indeed it is but decent 
in him, to have every thing about him plain and sub- 
stantial, rather than ornamental and fashionable." 

The personal character of Mr. Cecil had a mani- 
fest influence on his MINISTERIAL. We find him 
frequently accounting for those views and feelings which 
prevailed in his ministry, by a reference to his constitu- 
tion and his early history. 

His sentiments on the ministerial OFFICE are scat- 
tered through his writings, as this was ever present to 
his mind. Wherever he was, and whatever was his 
employment, he was always the Christian minister. He 
was ever on the watch to do the work of an evangelist ; 
and to make full proof of his ministry. 

I have collected together his thoughts on this subject 
in some sections of his "Remains;" and I think it 
impossible that any young minister should road these 
thoughts, without imbibing a higher estimation of his 



2S CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL, 

sacred office. More will be found on these points in the 
following views of his ministerial character gathered 
from his own lips. 

These views were most striking and sublime. "A 
minister is a Levite. In general, he has, and he is to have, 
no inheritance among his brethren. Other men are not 
Levites. They must recur to means, from which a mi- 
nister has no right to expect any thing. Their affairs 
are al! the little transactions of this world. But a mi- 
nister is called and set apart for a high and sublime bu- 
siness. His transactions are to be between the living 
and the dead — between heaven and earth; and he must 
stand as with wings on his shoulders. He must look, 
therefore, for every thing in his affairs to be done for 
him and before his eyes. I am at a loss to conceive 
how a minister, with right feeling, can plot and contrive 
for a living. If he is told that there is such a thing for 
him if he will make such an application, and that it is 
to be so obtained and so only, all is well — but not a step 
farther. It is in vain, however, to put any man on act- 
ing in this manner, if he be not a Levite in principle and 
in character. These must be the expressions of a na- 
ture communicated to him from God — a high principle 
of faith begetting simplicity. He must be an eagle tow- 
ering toward heaven on strong pinions. The barn-door 
hen must continue to scratch her grains out of the dung- 
hill.* 

He thought that the life of a minister, with respect to 
worldly affairs, ought to be peculiarly above that of 
other men, a life of faith. It was his maxim, to lay out 
no money unnecessarily — and, with this principle, he re- 
garded his purse as in God's hands, and found it like the 
barrel of meal and the cruse of oil. He confessed that 
he could advise this conduct in no case but in that of a 
Christian minister, who was a wise and prudent, as 
w r ell as right- hearted manager of his affairs. His habit 
was, to be the child of simplicity and faith — acting as a 
servant of God, on those principles which he judged 
most suitable to his character and station. 

He had exalted ideas of ministerial authority — not the 
authority which results merelv from office, but from 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. *29 

office united with personal character — not the claims of 
priestly arrogance, but the claims of priestly dignity. 
"I never choose to forget that I am a triest, because I 
would not deprive myself of the right to dictate in my 
ministerial capacity. I cannot allow a man, therefore, 
to come to me merely as a friend, on his spiritual affairs, 
because I should have no authority to say to him, ' Sir, 
you must do so and so.' I cannot suffer my best friends 
to dictate to me in any thing which concerns my mi- 
nisterial duties. I have often had to encounter this 
spirit ; and there would be no end of it, if I did not 
check and resist it. I plainly tell them that they know 
nothing of the matter. I ask them if it is decent, that 
a man immersed in other concerns should pretend to 
know my affairs and duties, better than myself, who, as 
they ought to believe, make them the study of my life. 
I have been disgusted — deeply disgusted — at the man- 
ner in which some men of flaming religious profession 
talk of certain preachers. They estimate them just as 
Garrick would have estimated the worth of players, or 
as Handel would have arranged an orchestra. • Such 
an one is clever — he is a master/ — Clever! — a master! 
— Worth and character and dignity are of no weight in 
the scale." 

These views are just and noble ; and they are suited 
to his own great mind, and the entire hold which his 
office had on his heart. But — listening with his whole 
soul to that injunction, Meditate on these things, give 
thyself wholly to them — it may be doubted whether he 
did not sometimes challenge to his office more respect 
than the party concerned could be expected to allow 
due. 

Mr. Cecil's preparation and training for this ex- 
alted office have been already spoken of in the view 
of his personal character. This was, as has been seen, 
of no common kind. 

His QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE DISCHARGE OF THE MI- 
NISTRY were peculiar. The great natural powers which 
God had given him, were moulded and matured by the 
training and discipline through which he was led, and 
were consecrated by grace to the service of his Mas- 

c 2 



30 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

ter. It will not be requisite to recapitulate what has 
been said on this subject. I shall here speak only of 
those qualifications which were more appropriate to 
him as a public teacher. 

His learning consisted more in the knowledge of 
other men's ideas, than in an accurate acquaintance 
with the niceties of the languages. Yet he was better 
acquainted with these, than many who devote a dispro- 
portionate time to this acquisition. His incessant appli- 
cation, chiefly by candle-light, when at Oxford, to the 
study of Greek, of which he was enthusiastically fond, 
brought in an almost total loss of sight for six months. 
He had determined to become a perfect master of the 
niceties of that refined and noble language. The counsel, 
however, which he received from Dr. Bacon, and which 
is recorded in his " Remains," under the head of " Miscel- 
laneous Remarks on the Christian Ministry," put him on 
proportioning his attention more according to the future 
utility of his pursuits than he had been accustomed to. 
" I was struck with his advice," he said, " I had an un- 
settled sort of religion, but enough to make me see and 
choose the truth which he set before me." 

So solid and extensive was Mr. Cecil's real learning, 
that there were no important points, in morals or reli- 
gion, on which he had not read the best authors, and 
made up his mind on the most mature deliberation ; nor 
could any topic be started in history or philosophy, on 
subjects of art or of science, with which he was not 
found more generally acquainted than other men. But 
while he could lay these parts of learning under con- 
tribution to aid him in his one object of impressing truth 
on man, he was a master in the learning which is more 
peculiarly appropriate to his profession. He was so 
much in the habit of daily reading the Scriptures in the 
originals, that as he told me, he went to this employ na- 
turally and insensibly. He limited himself to no stated 
quantity: but, as his time allowed, he read, one or two, 
and sometimes five or six chapters daily. 

Mr. Cecil had the power of exciting and preserv- 
ing attention above most men. All his effort was di- 
rected, first to engage attention, and then to repay it — 
to allure curiosity, and then to gratify it. 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 31 

Till the attention was gained he felt that nothing 
could be effected on the mind. Sometimes he would 
have recourse to unusual methods, suited indeed to his 
auditory, to awaken and fix their minds. " I was once 
preaching," he said, "a Charity Sermon where the con- 
gregation was very large, and chiefly of the lower or- 
der. I found it impossible by my usual method of 
preaching, to gain their attention. It was in the after- 
noon, ancl my hearers seemed to meet nothing in my 
pi caching, which was capable of rousing them out of 
the stupefaction of a full dinner. Some lounged, and 
some turned their backs on me. 'I must iiavk atten- 
tion,' I said to myself. 4 I will be heard' — The case 
was desperate ; and, in despair, I sought a desperate re- 
medy. I exclaimed aloud, 4 Last Monday morning a 
man was hanged at Tyburn' — instantly the face of 
things was changed ! All was silence and expectation ! 
I caught their car, and retained it through the Sermon." 
This anecdote leads me to observe that Mr. Cecil had, 
in an unusual degree, the talent of adapting his ministry 
to his congregation. While he was, for instance, 
preaching on the same day at Lothbury, at St. John's 
morning and afternoon, and at Spitalfields in the even- 
ing — he found four congregations at these places, in 
many respects, quite distinct from one another ; and 
yet he adapted his preaching, with admirable skill, to 
meet their habits of thinking. 

But when he had gained the attention, he was ever 
on the watch not to weary it. He seemed to have con- 
tinually before his eyes the sentiments of our great critic 
and moralist:* " Tediousncss is the most fatal of all 
faults ; negligences or errors arc single and local, but tc- 
diousness pervades the whole; other faults arc censured 
and forgotten; but the power of tediousncss propagates 
itself. He that is weary the first hour, is more weary 
the second; as bodies forced into motion, contrary to 
their tendency, pass more and more slowly through 
every successive interval of space." Mr. Cecil would 
say, "You have a certain quantity of attention to work 

♦ Lives of the Poets, Vol. iii. p. 35. 



32 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 



on: make the best use of it while it lasts. The iron 
will cool, and then nothing, or worse than nothing is 
done, If a preacher will leave unsaid all vain repeti- 
tions, and watch against undue length in his entrance 
and width in his discussion, he may limit a written ser- 
mon to half an hour, and one from notes to forty mi- 
nutes ; and this time he should not allow himself to ex- 
ceed, except on special occasions." 

His power of illustration was great and versatile. 
His topics were chiefly taken from Scripture and from 
life. His manner of illustrating his subjects by Scrip- 
ture examples, was the most finished I ever heard. 
They were never introduced violently or abruptly ; but 
his matter was so moulded in preparation for them, by 
a few well turned sentences, that the illustration seemed 
to be placed in the Scripture almost for the sake of the 
doctrine. The general features of the character or his- 
tory were left in the back ground, and those only which 
were appropriate to the matter in hand were brought 
forward, and were thus presented to the mind. His ta- 
lent in discriminating the striking features, and connect- 
ing them with his matter, was so peculiar, that the his- 
tories of Abraham, of Jacob, of David, and of St. Paul, 
seemed in his hands, to be ever new, and to be exhaust- 
less treasures of illustration. 

The turn both of his mind and of his experience 
seemed to lead him to this method. What he did, there- 
fore, with ease and feeling, it was natural should be 
done frequently ; and, accordingly, I have scarcely ever 
heard a sermon from him in which there were not re- 
peated exercises of this peculiar talent ; and in some 
sermons almost the entire subject has been treated in 
this manner. 

This talent of illustrating his subjects, and particu- 
larly of seizing incidents for improvement, gave an edge 
to his wise admonitions in private ; and fixed them deep 
in the memory. Riding with a friend on a very windy 
day, the dust was so troublesome, that his companion 
wished they were at their journey's end, where ihey 
might ride in the fields free from dust; and this wish he 



. 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 33 

repeated more than once while on the road. When 
they reached the fields, the flies so teazed his friend's 
horse, that he could scarcely keep his seat on the saddle. 
On his bitterly complaining, "Ah ! Sir," said Mr. Cecil, 
" when you were in the road, the dust was your only 
trouble, and all your anxiety was to get into the fields ; 
you forgot that the fly was there ! Now this is a true 
picture of human life ; and you will find it so in all the 
changes you make in future. We know the trials of our 
present situation : but the next will have trials, and per- 
haps worse, though they be of a different kind." 

At another time, the same friend said he should es- 
teem it as a favor, if he would tell him of any thing 
which he might in future see in his conduct which he 
thought improper. " Well, Sir," he said, "many a man 
has directed the watchman to call him early in the morn- 
ing, and has then appeared very anxious for his coming 
early ; but the watchman has come before he has been 
ready for him ! 1 have seen many people very desirous 
of being told their faults ; but I have seen very few who 
were pleased when they received the information. 
However, I like to receive an invitation, and I have no 
reason to suppose you will be displeased till I see it so. 
I shall therefore remember that you have asked for it." 

His style, particularly in preaching and in free con- 
versation, was easy and natural. If he ever labored his 
expression, it was in search of emphasis, rather than pre- 
cision — of words which would penetrate the soul, ra- 
ther than round his period, and float in the ear. He 
considered that vigorous conceptions would clothe them- 
selves in the fittest expressions — 

Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur. 

V 

Or, as Milton has admirably said — " True eloquence I 
find to be none, but the serious and hearty love of truth ; 
and that, whose mind soever is fully possessed with a 
fervent desire to know good things, and with the dear- 
est charity to infuse the knowledge of them to others, 
when such a man would speak, his words, like so ma- 
ny nimble and airy servitors, trip about him at command, 



34 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

and in well ordered files, as he would wish, fall abruptly 
into their own places." 

His written style has less ease than that of his con- 
versation or preaching. He excelled rather in strong 
intuitive sense, than in a train of arguments; and more 
in the liveliness of his thoughts, than in their arrange- 
ment. He would put down his thoughts as they arose 
— often at separate times, and as suggested by the occa- 
sion — and was not always nice in rejecting obsolete ex- 
pressions, or antithesis in sense. This occasioned a 
want of flow and ease in many parts of his writings, 
which was obviated by the warmth of conversation or 
preaching. 

Impression was the leading feature of his ministry 
Perhaps the information conveyed by it to the mind 
was not sufficiently systematic and minute. He had 
seen so much the evil of spending the preacher's time 
in doctrinal statements, that possibly there was some defi- 
ciency in this respect in his own practice. When, indeed, 
he had to introduce religion to his congregations at St. 
John's or Chobham, on his first entering on those char- 
ges, he dealt with them as a people needing information 
on first principles : but my remark applies to the habit 
and course of his ministry. For, however true it is, 
that, when a man becomes a serious reader of God's 
word, he must grow in the knowledge of the truth ; 
yet many will still read the Bible with an indiscriminating 
mind, unless their minister' s statements give them, not 
only a lucid general view of doctrines, but somewhat of 
a systematic and connected view ; and not a few — bu- 
ried in the cares of the world — will derive all their 
notions of the system of divine truth from what thejf 
hear in public. 

Mr. Cecil wrote and spoke to mankind. He dealt 
with the business and bosoms of men. An energy of 
truth prevailed in his ministry, which roused the con- 
science ; and a benevolence reigned in his spirit, which 
seized the heart ; yet I much question whether the pre- 
vailing effect of his preaching was not determination 
grounded on conviction and admiration rather than on 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 35 

emotion. When in perfect health and spirits, and mas- 
ter of his subject, his eloquence was finished and strik- 
ing: but, though there was often a tenderness which 
awakened corresponding feelings in the hearer, yet his 
eloquence wanted that vehement passion which* over- 
powers and carries away the minds of others. 

— si vis me Here, dolendum est 
Primum ipsi tibi 

This is the great secret for getting hold of the heart. 
But as not much of the impassioned entered into the 
composition of his nature, and he was at the same time 
pre-eminent in genius and judgment, it could not but 
follow that admiration should affect the hearer more 
frequently than strong feeling. A friend has told me 
that he has often lost the benefit of the. truth which Mr. 
Cecil has uttered, in admiration of the exquisite manner 
in which it was conveyed. And I have again and again 
detected this in myself; and found I have been watch- 
ing eagerly for what would fall next from him, not in the 
spirit of a new born babe that desires the sincere milk of 
the word that I might grow thereby, but for the gratifi- 
cation of a mental voluptuousness. I desire no one will 
suppose that I impute to him any of the studied artifi- 
ces of eloquence. No man sought more than he did 
that his hearers' jfaiJA should not stand in the wisdom 
of men, but in the power of God. No man more sincere- 
ly aimed to have his speech and his preaching not with 
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of 
the spirit and of power; yet, moreover, because the 
preacher was wise he still taught the people knowledge ; 
yea, he gave good heed, and sought out and set in or- 
der the messages of divine mercy. The preacher 
sought to find out acceptable words, yet that which 
was written was upright, even words of truth. He could 
not but treat his subjects in this exquisite manner, while 
his taste, his genius, and his nature remained; yet this 
could not but be sanctified to his Master' honor, while 
he retained the perfect integrity, the deep conviction, and 
the singleness of eye which his Master had given him. 
That it was the farthest possible from trick and artifice 



36 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL, 

might be seen in his most familiar conversation ; where 
his manner, when he was fully called out, was exactly 
what it was in the pulpit. His mind grasped every 
subject firmly : his imagination clothed it with images 
— embodied it — gave it life — called up numberless asso- 
ciations and illustrations: it was realized: it was pre- 
sent to him ; his taste and judgment enabled him to 
seize it in the most striking points of view. 

" His apprehensions of religion," Mr. Wilson most 
justly observes, " were grand and elevated. His fine 
powers governed by divine grace, were exactly calcu- 
lated to seize all the grandeur of the Gospel. The stu- 
pendous magnitude of the objects which the Bible 
proposes to man, the incomparable sublimity of eternal 
pursuits, the astonishing scheme of redemption by an in- 
carnate Mediator, the native grandeur of a rational and 
immortal being stamped with the impress of God, the 
fall of his being into sin, and poverty and meanness, and 
guilt, his recovery by grace to more than his original 
dignity in the love and service of his Creator, filled all 
his soul. He seemed often to labor with an imagina- 
tion occupied with his noble theme. He felt, and he 
taught, that no other subject was worthy the consi- 
deration of man. In comparison with it, he led his 
auditors to condemn and trample on all the petty objects 
of this lower world. Its meanness, its uncertainty, its 
deceit, its vanity, its vexation, its nothingness, he set ful- 
ly in their view. He even made them look down with 
a generous concern on those who were buried in its in- 
terests and who forgot, amidst the toys of children, the 
real business of life. 

Some of his printed sermons are perfect models ot 
simplicity, vivacity, and effect. That, for instance, on 
the " Power of Faith." 

His countenance, though not modelled altogether 
after the artificial rules of beauty, beamed in animated 
conversation and in the pulpit, with the beauty of a 
great and noble mind. Dignity and benevolence were 
strongly portrayed there. The variety of its expression 
was admirable ; nor could any one feel the full force of 
the soul which he threw into his discourses, if this ex- 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 37 

pression was concealed from him by distance or situation. 
His action was graceful and forcible : latterly, owing 
perhaps to his increasing infirmities and almost uninter- 
rupted pain, it discovered, 1 think, some constraint and 
want of ease. 

There was a familiarity and an authority in his 
manner which to strangers sometimes appeared dogma- 
tism. His manner was, in truth, like that of no other 
man. It was altogether original ; and because it was 
original, it sometimes offended those who had no other 
idea of manner than of that to which they had been ac- 
customed. Yet even the prejudiced could not hear 
him with indifference. There was a dignity and com- 
mand, a decision and energy, a knowledge of the heart 
and the world, an uprightness of mind and a desire to 
do good, and all this united with a tenderness and affec- 
tion, which few could witness without some favorable 
impressions. 

His most striking sermons were generally those, 
which he preached from very short texts, such as — My 
soul hangeth on thee — All my fresh springs are in thee 
— O Lord ! teach me my way — As thy day is so shall 
thy strength be. In these sermons, the whole subject 
had probably struck him at once ; and what comes in 
this way is generally found to be more natural and for- 
cible, than what the mind is obliged to excogitate by its 
own laborious efforts: As the subject grows out of the 
state of the mind at the time, there is that degree of af- 
finity between them which occasions the mind to seize 
it forcibly, and to clothe it with vivid colors. A train 
of the most natural associations presents itself, as one 
link draws with it its kindred links. The attention is en- 
gaged — the mind is concentrated — scripture and life 
present themselves without effort, in the most natural 
relations which they bear to the subject that has full 
possession of the man, and composition becomes easy, 
and even interesting. 

It was a frequent and very useful method with him, 
to open and explain his subject in a very brief manner, 
and then to draw inferences from it ; which inferences 



38 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

formed the great body of the sermon, and were rather 
matters of address to the consciences and hearts of his 
hearers, than of discussion ; so that the whole subject 
was a kind of application. This seems to me to have 
been his most effective manner of preaching. Take an 
instance : Matt, xviii. 20. I. Explain the words. II. 
Raise from them two or three remarks : Contemplate 
1. The Glory and Godhead of our Master : 2. The 
honor which he puts on his house and the assembly of 
his Saints : 3 .The privilege of being one of Christ's 
servants whom he will meet : 4. The obligations lying 
on such servants — What manner of servants ought such 
to be? 

He was remarkably observant of character. When 
I have asked his opinion of a person, he has frequently 
surprised me with such a full and accurate delineation 
of him, as he could have obtained only by a very pa- 
tient and penetrating observation. The reason of this 
appeared, when I learnt that it was his custom in his 
sermon notes, when he wished to describe a particular 
character, not to put down its chief features as they oc- 
cured to his mind from the general observations which 
he had made on men ; but he would put down the in- 
itial of some person's name, with whom he was well 
acquainted, and who stood in his mind as the represen- 
tative of that class of characters. He had nothing to 
do then, when he came to enlarge on that part of his 
subject, but strongly to realize to himself the person in 
question, and he would draw a much more vi'vid pic- 
ture of a real character than he could otherwise do.* 

Mr. Cecil was not himself led to the knowledge of 
God through great terrors of conscience : his ministry 
did not, therefore, so much abound in delineations of the 

* Lavater somewhere mentions an admirable practice of his own. 
which carried our friend's principle into constant use in his ministry, 
He fixed on certain persons in his congregation, whom he considered 
as representatives of the respective classes into which his hearers might 
be properly divided — amounting, as I recollect, to seven. In compos- 
ing his discourses, he kept each of these persons steadily in his eye; and 
labored so to mould his subject as to meet the case of every one — by 
which incomparable rule he rendered himself intelligible and interesting 
to all classes of his flock. 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 39 

workings and malignity of sin, as in those topics which 
grew out of his course of experience ; nor did he enter 
Frequently or largely into the details of the spiritual con- 
flict. He was himself drawn to God, and subdued by 
a sense of divine mercy and friendship ; he was led, 
therefore, to detail largely the transactions of the believ- 
ing mind with God, in the exercise of dependance and 
submission. 

He was more aware than most men of the DiFrrcuL- 

TY OF BRINGING DOWN THE TRUTH TO THE COMPREHENSION 
OF THE MASS OF HEARERS. 

A young minister may leave college with the best the- 
ory in the world, and he may take with him into a 
country parish a determination to talk in the language 
of simplicity itself; but the actual capacity to make him- 
self understood and felt is so far removed from his for- 
mer habits, that it is only to be acquired by experience. 
Hear how wisely Mr. Cecil wrote to a young friend 
about to take orders ; — " I advised him, since he was so 
near his entrance into the ministry, to lay aside all other 
studies for the present, but the one I should now recom- 
mend to him. I would have him select some very 
poor and uninformed persons, and pay them a visit. 
His object should be to explain to them, and demon- 
strate the truth of the solar system. He should first of 
all set himself to make that system perfectly intelligible 
to them, and then he should demonstrate it to their full 
conviction against all that the followers of Tycho Brahe, 
or any one else could say against it. He would tell me 
it was impossible : they would not understand a single 
term. Impossible to make them astronomers ! And 
shall it be thought an easy matter to make them under- 
stand redemption ?" 

He gave the following account of his iiadit of pre- 
paration FOR THE PULPIT I 

"I generally look into the portions of Scripture ap- 
pointed by the church to be read in the services of the 
day. 1 watch, too, for any new light which may be 
thrown on passages in the course of reading, conversa- 
tion, or prayer. I seize the occasions furnished by my 



40 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL, 






own experience — my state of mind — my family occur- 
rences. Subjects taken up in this manner are always 
likely to meet the cases and wants of some persons in 
the congregation. Sometimes, however, I have no text 
prepared ; and I have found this to arise generally from 
sloth : I go to work : this is the secret : make it a bus- 
iness : something will arise where least expected. 

" It is important to begin preparation early. If it is 
driven off late, accidents may occur which may prevent 
due attention to the subject. If the latter days of the 
week are occupied, and the mind driven into a corner, 
the sermon will usually be raw and undigested. Take 
time to reject what ought to be rejected, and to supply 
what ought to be supplied. 

" It is a favorite method with me to reduce the text 
to some point of doctrine. On that topic I enlarge, and 
then apply it. I like to ask myself — ■ What are you do- 
ing ? — What is your aim f 

" I will not foretell my own views by first going to 
commentators. I talk over the subject to myself: I 
write down all that strikes me : and then I arrange 
what is written. After my plan is settled, and my mind 
has exhausted its stores, then I would turn to some of 
my great Doctors to see if I am in no error : but I find 
it necessary to reject many good things which the Doc- 
tors say ; they will tell to no good effect in a sermon. 
In truth, to be effective, we must draw more from na- 
ture and less from the writings of men ; we must study 
the book of Providence, the book of nature, the heart of 
man, and the book of God : we must read the history 
of the world : we must deal with matters of fact before 
our eyes." 

In respect to mechanical preparation, Mr. Cecil was 
in the habit of using eight quarto pages, on which he 
put down his main and subordinate divisions, with such 
hints as he thought requisite. These notes, written in 
an open and legible manner, such as his eye could catch 
with ease, he put into one of the portable quarto Bibles, 
of which several editions were printed in the seventeenth 
century, in a good type, but, in consequence of the close- 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 41 

ness and excellence of the paper, such as bind up in a 
very compact size. Of these editions there are some* 
which are printed page for page with another : and one 
of these editions Mr. Cecil was in the constant habit of 
using, both in public and in private, from the mechani- 
cal assistance afforded to him in turning to passages 
from the recollection of the part of the page in which 
they occurred. 

It will be interesting to hear Mr. Cecil's own account 

OF HIS MANNER OF COMMENCING HIS MINISTRY; as it nO- 

tices mistakes from which he was not only early but 
most effectually delivered, and his remarks on them may 
afford a serious caution to others. 

" I set out," he said, " with levity in the pulpit. It was 
above two years before I could get the victory over it, 
though I strove under sharp piercings of conscience. 
My plan was wrong. I had bad counsellors. I thought 
preaching was only entering the pulpit, and letting off a 
sermon. I really imagined this was trusting to God, 
and doing the thing cleverly. I talked with a wise and 
pious man on the subject. • There is nothing,' said he, 
'like appealing to facts.' We sat down and named 
names. We found men in my habit disreputable. This 
first set my mind right. I saw such a man might some- 
times succeed : but I saw, at the same time, that who- 
ever would succeed in his general interpretations of 
Scripture, and would have his ministry that of a work' 
man that needeth not to be ashamed — must be a labori- 
ous man. What can be produced by men who refuse 
this labor ? — a few raw notions, harmless perhaps in 
themselves, but false as stated by them. What then 
should a young minister do? 

"His office says, 'Go to your books. Go to retire- 
ment. Go to prayer.' — 'No!' says the enthusiast, 'Go 
to preach. Go and be a witness!' — A witness! — ot 
what?— He don't know !" 

Thus qualified by nature, education, and grace — en- 
riched by his various manly acquisitions —and matured 

* I have compared four of these Bibles, viz. Field's, London, 1618— 
Haye's, Camb., 1670, and also that of 1677— and Buck's, Comb., with- 
out date. 

d2 



42 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

by experience, he appeared in the pulpit unquestionably 
as one of the first preachers — perhaps the very first 
preacher of his time. 

He was sincerely attached to the church of 
England, both by principle and feeling — to her order 
and decorum. He entered into the spirit of those obli- 
gations, which lay on him as a clergyman ; and, look- 
ing at general consequences, would never break through 
the order and discipline of the church, to obtain any 
particular, local, and temporary ends. 

In the more private exercise of his pastoral office, 
as a counsellor and friend, he manifested great faith- 
fulness, tenderness, and wisdom. 

In proof of this I might appeal to what is said in the 
"Remains," on the the subject of "visiting death-beds." 
I shall here subjoin a few more illustrations of this part 
of his character. 

An interview was contrived between him and a no- 
ble lady, by some of her relations. She began to listen 
to the affairs of religion. Her life had been gay and 
trifling. She knew that he understood her situation ; 
and she began to introduce her case by saying that she 
supposed he thought her a very contemptible and wick- 
ed creature. "No, Madam, I do not look at you in 
that view. I consider that you have been a wanderer ; 
pursuing happiness in a mistaken road — an immortal 
being fluttering through the present short but important 
scene, without one serious concern for what is to come 
after it is passed by. And, while others know what is 
to happen to them, and wait for it, you are totally ig- 
norant of the subject." — "But, Sir, is it possible to arrive 
at any certainty with respect to a future condition 7* — 
" Why, what little trifling scenes would occupy your 
ladyship and myself, if we were confined to this small 
spot of a carpet that is under our feet ! The world is a 
little, mean, despicable scene in itself. But we must 
leave it ; and can you suppose that we are left to step 
into another state, as into a dark abyss — not knowing 
what awaits us there ? No — the next step I take from 
the world is not into a void that no one has explored — 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL, 43 

a fathomless abyss — a chaos of clouds and darkness — 
but I know what it is — I am assured of it." He said to 
me in reporting this conversation, "I rested on this, and 
left it to work on her mind. I thought it better to de- 
fer the subject of this assurance to try her, and I have 
reason to believe that she feels anxious for our next oc- 
casion of meeting, that she may hear how we can make 
out the grounds of our assurance." This is one among 
many instances of the wise methods in which he accom- 
modated his instructions to the character. 

" Many of my people" he said, " and especially fe- 
males, talk thus to me — ' lam under continual distress 
of mind. I can lay hold of no permanent ground of 
peace. If I seem to get a little, it is soon gone again. 
I am out at sea, without compass or anchor. My heart 
sinks. My spirit faints. My knees tremble. All is 
dark above, and all is horror beneath.' 'And pray 
what is your mode of life V ' I sit by myself.' i In this 
small room, I suppose, and over your fire?' 'A con- 
siderable part of my time.' * And what time do you 
go to bed V ' I cannot retire till two or three o'clock 
in the morning.' l And you lie late, I suppose, in the 
morning V 'Frequently.' ' And pray what else can you 
expect from this mode of life, than a relaxed and un- 
strung system ; and, of course, a mind enfeebled, anxious, 
and disordered ? I understand your case. God seems to 
have qualified me to understand it, by especial dispensa- 
tions. My natural disposition is gay, volatile, spirited. 
My nature would never sink. But I have sometimes 
felt my spirit absorbed in horrible apprehensions, with- 
out any assignable natural cause. Perhaps it was ne- 
cessary I should be suffered to feel this, that I might 
feel for others ; for, certainly, no man can have any 
adequate sympathy with others, who has never thus 
suffeied himself. I can feel for you therefore, while I 
tell you that I think the affair with you is chiefly physical. 
I myself have brought on the same feelings by the same 
means. I have sat in my study till I have persuaded 
myself that the ceiling was too low to suffer me to rise 
and stand upright ; and air and exercise alone, could 
remove the impression from my mind !" 



44 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL, 

His taking the charge of St. John's Chapel is the 
most important event of his life, as it appears to have 
been the sphere for which he was peculiarly raised up 
and prepared by Providence. 

The circumstances attending his establishment of a 
serious and devout congregation in this place, mark the 
strength and simplicity of his mind ; while they may 
show the necessity under which such men will some- 
times be brought, of acting for themselves, with perfect 
independence of the whole body of their brethren. 

These circumstances he related to me as follows: — 
•• When I married, I lived at a small house at Islington, 
situated in the midst of a garden, for which I paid 14/. 
a year. My annual income was then only 80/., and, 
with this, I had to support myself, my wife, and a ser- 
vant. I was then.-indeed, minister of St. John's, but I re- 
ceived nothing from the place for several of the earlier 
years. When I was sent thither, I considered that I 
was sent to the people of that place and neighborhood. 
I thought it my duty, therefore, to adopt a system and a 
style of preaching which should have a tendency to meet 
their case. All which they had heard before, was dry, 
frigid, and lifeless. A high, haughty, stalking spirit cha- 
racterised the place. I was thrown among men of the 
world, men of business, men of reading, and men of 
thought. I began, therefore, with principles. 1 preach- 
ed on the divine authority of the sacred Scriptures. I 
dissected Sauriirs Sermons. I took the sinews and sub- 
stance of some of our most masterly writers. I preach- 
ed on such texts as — If ye believe not Moses and the Pro- 
phets, neither will ye believe though one arose from the 
dead. I set myself to explain terms and phrases. My 
chief object was under-ground work. But what was 
the consequence of this ? An outcry was raised against 
me throughout the religious world. It was said, that, at 
other places, I continued to speak the truth ; but that, at 
St. John's. I was sacrificing it to my hearers. Even my 
brethren, instead of entering into my reasons and plan, 
lay on their oars. My protectress turned her back on 
me. I hesitated, at first, to enter on so great a risk ; 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 45 

but, with grandeur of spirit, she told me she would put 
her fortune on the issue : if any benefit resulted from it, 
it should be mine, and she would bear me harmless of 
all loss. She heard me a few times, and then wholly 
withdrew herself, and even took away her servants. 
Some of them would now and then steal in ; but as they 
reported that they got ' no food,' the report did but 
strengthen the prejudices of their mistress. She could 
not enter into my motives. I was obliged to regard her 
as Huss did that of the man who was heaping the fag- 
gots round him, O sancta simplicitas ! She could not 
calculate consequences, and was unmoved even when 
I placed my conduct in its strongest light — ' Can you 
attribute any but the purest motives to me? Ought 
not the very circumstances to which I voluntarily sub- 
ject myself by adhering to the plan you condemn, to gain 
me some credit for my intentions ? Had I preached 
here in the manner I preached elsewhere, you know 
that the place would have been crowded by the religi- 
ous world. I should then have obtained from it an in- 
come of 200/. or 300/. a year, whereas I now sit down 
with little or no advantage from it, though I have a fa- 
mily rising up about me. God sent me hitherto preach 
to this people, and to raise a congregation in this place ; 
and I am proceeding in that system and way, which 
seems to me best adapted under God to meet the states 
of this people ; and while I am doing this, I bring on my- 
self temporal injury. I can have no possible motive to 
sacrifice the truth to a few blind Pharisees, who will 
never while I live become my friends/ 

" I labored under this desertion of my friends for a 
long time : it was about seven years, before affairs be- 
gan to wear such an aspect, that my protectress and 
others allowed that matters had certainly turned out 
as they could not have foreseen. Several witnesses 
rose up of undoubted and authentic character, to testify 
the power of the grace of God. One circumstance 
will place the prejudice which existed against me in ■ 
strong light. A converted Jewess, who had been driven 
from her father's house on account of her sentiments, 



46 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

and was a woman of great simplicity and devotion, re- 
fused to accompany a friend to St. John's because, as 
she said, she could not worship there spiritually, and 
rather choose to spend the afternoon among her friend's 
books ; in which employment, I doubt not, she worship- 
ped God in the spirit, and was accepted of him. For 
my own satisfaction, I wrote down at large the reasons 
on which I had formed my conduct, for I was almost 
driven into my own breast for support and justification. 
One friend, indeed, stood by me. He saw my plan and 
entered fully into it ; and said such strong things on the 
subject as greatly confirmed my own mind. 'The 
Church of Christ,' said he, ' must sometimes be sacrific- 
ed for Christ.' A certain brother preached a charity 
sermon ; and in such a style, that he seemed to say to 
me, ' Were I here, you would see how I would do the 
thing.' What good he did, I know not; but some of 
the evil I know, as several persons forsook the chapel, 
and assigned his sermon as the reason ; and others ex- 
pressed themselves alarmed at the idea of Methodism 
having crept into the place. It was ill-judged and un- 
kind. He should have entered into my design, or have 
been silent." 

About the middle of July, 1800, Mr. Cecil entered on 
the Livings of Bisley and Chobham in Surry. A few 
weeks after this I visited him with our dear and mutual 
friend Dr. Fearon. 

Here I saw him in a quite different situation from any 
in which I had seen him before, and was not a little cu- 
rious to remark the manner in which he would treat a 
set of plain and homely villagers. Though he was re- 
peatedly in great anguish during the day which we pass- 
ed with him, yet his mind, in the intervals, was so vigor- 
ous and luminous that I have scarcely ever gathered so 
much from him in an equal time. 

On this occassion, among other things which are re- 
corded in his " Remains," he stated to us his views and 
feelings respecting his new charge. " Bisley is a rectory. 
It is completely out of the world. The farmers in these 
parts are mostly occupiers of their own land. They 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 47 

crowded round me when I first came, and were eager 
to make bargains with me for the tythe. 1 told them I 
was ignorant of such matters, but that I would propose 
a measure which none of them could object to. The 
farmers of Bisley should nominate three farmers of 
Chobham parish; and whatever those three Chobham 
farmers should appoint me to receive, that they should 
pay. This was putting myself into their power indeed, 
but the one grand point with me was to conciliate 
their minds, and pave the way for the gospel in these 
parishes. And so far it answered my purpose. I had 
desired the three farmers to throw the weight, in dubi- 
ous cases into the farmer's scale. After we had settled 
the business, one of the three, to convince the Bisley 
farmers that they had acted in the very spirit of my di- 
rections, proposed to find a person who would immedi- 
ately give them 50/. a year for their bargain with me. 
This has given them an idea that we act upon high and 
holy motives." 

What a noble trait is this of his upright and disinter- 
ested mind ? One might almost with confidence predict 
that such an introduction into his parishes was a pre- 
sage of great usefulness. A minister has no right to 
wanton away the support of his family ; but, having 
secured that, whatever sacrifices he may make with 
such holy motives as these, will be abundantly repaid ; 
probably in the success of his ministry, certainly in his 
master's approbation and the peace of his own bosom. 
Those sacrifices of what may be strictly his due, which 
a narrow and worldly man may refuse to make, though 
he entail discord and feuds on his parish, will be tiifles 
to the mind of a true Christian minister. 

" I hardly think it likely that a man could have been 
received in a more friendly manner than I have been. 
About 500 people attended at Chobham, and 300 at 
Bisley. I find I can do any thing with them while I 
am serious. A Baptist preacher had been somewhere 
in the neighborhood before I came. He seems to have 
been wild and eccentric, and to have planted a prejudice 
in consequence of this in the people's minds, who appear 



48 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

to have had no other notion of Methodism than that it 
was eccentricity. 

u While I am grave and serious they will allow me 
to say or do any thing. For instance ; a few Sundays 
since it rained so prodigiously hard when I had finished 
my sermon at Bisley, that 1 saw it was impracticable 
for any body to leave the church. I then told the peo- 
ple, that as it was likely to continue for some time, we 
had better employ ourselves as well as we could, and so 
I would take up the subject again. I did so ; and they 
listened to me readily for another half-hour, though I 
had preached to them three-quarters of an hour before 
I had concluded. All this they bear, and think it no- 
thing strange ; but one wild brother with one eccentric 
sermon would do me more mischief than 1 should be 
able in many months to cure." 

A very strong instance of personal attachment to him 
occurred soon after he took Chobham. A stranger was 
observed to attend church every Sunday, and to leave 
the village immediately after service was over. Every 
new face there was a phenomenon, and of course the 
appearance of this man led to inquiry. He was found 
to be one of his hearers at St. John's — a poor, work- 
ing-man, whom the advantages received under his min- 
istry had so knit to his pastor, that he found himself re- 
paid for a weekly journey of fifty miles. Mr. C. re- 
monstrated with him on the inexpediency and impro- 
priety of thus spending his Sabbath, when the pure 
word of God might be heard so much nearer home. 

But we must approach the closing scene of this great 
man's life and labors. 

No touches need to be added to the affecting picture 
which Mrs. Cecil has drawn of his gradual descent to 
the grave. I will only subjoin here some remarks on 
his views and feelings with respect to that Gospel of 
which he had been so long an eminent and successful 
minister. 

His views of Christianity were modified, as has been 
seen by his constitution and the circumstances of his 
life. His dispensation was to meet a particular class of 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 49 

hearers. He was fitted beyond most men, to assert the 
reality, dignity, and glory of religion — as contrasted 
with the vanity, meanness, and glare of the world. This 
subject he treated like a master. Men of the world 
felt that they were in the presence of their superior — of 
one who unmasked their real misery to themselves and 
pursued them through all the false refuges of vain and 
carnal minds. 

While this was the principal character of Mr. Cecil's 
ministry for years, at that place for which he seems to 
have been specially prepared ; yet he was elsewhere, 
with equal wisdom, leading experienced Christians for- 
ward in their way to heaven : and, latterly, the habit of 
his own mind and the whole system of his ministry 
were manifestly ripening in those views which are pe- 
culiar to the Gospel. 

No man had a more just view of his own ministry 
than he had ; nor could any one more highly value the 
excellence which he saw in others, though it was of a 
different class from his own. " I have been lately se- 
lecting," he said to me, " some of C — 's letters for publi- 
cation. With the utmost difficulty, 1 have given some 
little variety. He begins with Jesus Christ, carries him 
through, and closes with him. If a broken leg or arm 
turns him aside, he seems impatient to dismiss it as an 
intrusive subject, and to get back again to his topic. I 
feel as 1 read his letters — ' Why, you said this in the last 
sentence! What, over and over again! What, nothing 
else ! No variety of view ! No illustration !' And yet, I 
confess, that, when I have walked out and my mind has 
been a good deal exercised on his letters, I have caught 
a sympathy — ' It is one thing, without variety or relief; 
but this one thing is a talisman P — I have raised my 
head — I have trod firmly — my heart has expanded — 1 
have felt wings ! Men must not be viewed indiscrimi- 
nately. To a certain degree I produce effect in my 
way, and with my views. The utter ruin and bank- 
ruptcy of man is so wrought into my experience, that I 
handle this subject naturally. Other men may use 
God's more direct means as naturally as I can use his 



50 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

more indirect and collateral ones. Every man, how- 
ever, must rather follow than lead his experience ; 
though, to a certain degree, if he finds his habits divert- 
ing him from Jesus Christ as the grand, prominent, only 
feature, he must force himself to choose such topics as 
shall lead his mind to him. I am obliged to subject 
myself to this discipline. I frequently choose subjec s 
and enter into my plan, before I discover that the Sa- 
viour occupies a part too subordinate: I throw them 
away, and take up others which point more directly 
and naturally to him." 

In his last illness, he spoke, with great feeling on the 
same subject : " That Christianity may be very sincere, 
which is not sublime. Let a man read Maclaurin's ser- 
mon on the Cross of Christ, and enter into the subject 
with taste and relish, what beggary is the world to him ! 
The subject is so high and so glorious, that a man must 
go out of himself, as it were, to apprehend it. The 
apostle had such a view when he said I count all things 
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Je 
sus my Lord. I remember the time, even after 1 became 
really serious in religion, when I could not understand 
what St. Paul meant — not by setting forth the glory of 
Christ, but by talking of it in such hyperbolical terms, 
and always dwelling on the subject : whatever topic he 
began on, I saw that he could not but glide into the 
same subject. But I now understand why he did so, 
and wonder no more : for there is no other subject, 
comparatively, worthy our thoughts, and therefore it is 
that advanced Christians dwell on little else. I am ful- 
ly persuaded, that the whole world becomes vain and 
empty to a man. in proportion as he enters into living 
views of Jesus Christ." 

His feelings on religion, as they respected his sub- 
mission to the divine will, w r ere admirably expressed by 
himself: — " We are servants, and we must not choose 
our station. I am now called to go down very low, 
but I must not resist. God is saying to me, 'You 
have not been doing my work in my way : you have 
been too hasty. Now sit down, and be content to be a 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 61 

quiet idler : and wait till I give you leave again to go on 
in your labors.' * 

In respect to his personal comfort, he had said — " I 
have attained satisfaction as to my state, by a conscious- 
ness of change in my own breast, mixed with a con- 
sciousness of integrity. 

Two evidences are satisfactory to me : — 

1. A consciousness of approving God's plan of gov- 
ernment in the Gospel. 

2. A consciousness, that, in trouble, I run to God as 
a child." 

These evidences Mr. Cecil illustrated even in his 
diseased moments before his death. On that afflicting 
dispensation I shall make no remarks of my own, as 1 
think nothing can be added to what my friend, his suc- 
cessor, has so well said in the second of his funeral ser- 
mons, and which is here subjoined. 

" During the whole period of his last illness, a space 
of nearly three years, the state of his mind fluctuated 
with his malady. Every one, who has had opportuni- 
ties of observing the operation of palsy, knows, that, 
without destroying, or, properly speaking, perverting, 
the reasoning powers, it agitates and enervates them. 
Every object is presented through a discolored medium. 
False premises are assumed ; and the mind is sometimes 
more than usually expert in drawing inferences accord- 
ingly. In a word, the whole system is deranged and 
shattered. An excessive care and irritation and despond- 
ency are produced under the impression of which the 
sufferer acts every moment, without being at all aware 
of the cause. His morbid anxiety is, besides, fixed on 
some inconsiderable or ideal matter, which he magnifies 
and distorts ; while he remains incapable of attending to 
concerns of superior moment, and any attempts to rec- 
tify his misapprehensions, quicken the irritation, and in- 
crease the effects of the disorder. 

" Under this peculiar visitation it pleased God that 
our late venerable father should labor. The energy, 
and decision, and grandeur of his natural powers, 
therefore, gradually gave way, and a morbid feebleness 



52 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

succeeded. Yet even in this afflicting state, with his 
body on one side almost lifeless, his organs of speech im- 
paired, and his judgment weakened, the spiritual dispos- 
itions of his heart displayed themselves in a remarkable 
manner. He appeared great in the ruins of nature; 
and his eminently religious character manifested itself, 
to the honor of divine grace, in a manner which surpris- 
ed all who were acquainted with the ordinary effects of 
paralytic complaints. The actings of hope were, of 
course, impeded ; but the habit of grace which had been 
forming in his mind for thirty or forty years shone 
through the cloud. At such a period there was no room 
for fresh acquisitions. The real character of the man 
could only appear, when disease allowed it to appear 
at all according to the grand leading habits of his life. 
If his habits had been ambitious, or sensual, or covetous, 
or worldly, these tendencies, if any, would have display- 
ed themselves: but as his soul had been long establish- 
ed in grace, and spiritual religion had been incorporated 
with all his trains of sentiment and affection, and had 
become like a second nature, the holy dispositions of his 
heart acted with remarkable constancy under all the 
variations of his illness : so that one of his oldest friends 
observed to me, that if he had to choose the portion of 
his life, since he first knew him, in which the evidences 
of a state of salvation were most decisive, he should, 
without a moment's hesitation, select the period of his 
last distressing malady. 

" Throughout his illness, his whole mind, instead of 
being fixed on some mean and insignificant concern, was 
riveted on spiritual objects. Every other topic was so 
uninteresting to him, and even burdensome, that he 
could with reluctance allow it to be introduced. The 
value of his soul, the emptiness of the world, the near- 
ness and solemnity of death, were ever on his lips. He 
spent his whole time in reading the Scripture, and one 
or two old divines, particularly Archbishop Leighton. 
All he said and did was as a man on the brink of an 
eternal state. 

" His humility, also, evidently ripened as he approach- 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 53 

ed his end. He was willing to receive advice from 
every quarter. He listened with anxiety to any hint 
that was offered him. His view of his own misery and 
helplessness as a sinner, and of the necessity of being en- 
tirely indebted to divine grace, and being saved as the 
greatest monument of its efficacy, was continually on 
the increase. 

" His simplicity and fervor in speaking of the Saviour, 
were also very remarkable. As he drew nearer to 
death, his one topic was — Jesus Christ. All his anxiety 
and care were centred in this grand point. His appre- 
hensions of the work and glory of Christ, of the extent 
and suitableness of his salvation, and of the unspeakable 
importance of being spiritually united to him, were more 
distinct and simple, if possible, than at any period of his 
life. He spake of him to his family, with the feeling, 
and interest, and seriousness of the aged and dying be- 
liever. 

" His faith, also, never failed. I have heard him with 
faltering and feeble lips, speak of the great foundations 
of Christianity with the fullest confidence. He said, he 
never saw so clearly the truth of the doctrines which he 
had been preaching, as since his illness. His view of 
the certainty and excellency of God's promises in Christ 
was unshaken. 

" The interest, likewise, which he took in the success 
of the Gospel, was prominent, when his disease at all 
remitted. His own people lay near his heart ; and, 
when a providence had occurred which he hoped 
would promote their benefit, he expressed himself with 
old Simeon, ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart 
in peace/ 

" The principal effect of his distemper was in throw- 
ing a cloud over his comfort ; yet, in producing this, the 
spiritual tendency of his mind appeared. His diseased 
depression operated indeed, but it was in leading him to 
set a high standard of holiness to bring together eleva- 
ted marks of regeneration, and to require decisive evi- 
dences of a spirit of faith and adoption. The acuteness 
of his judgment then argued so strongly from these false 

e2 



54 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

premises, that he necessarily excluded himself almost 
entirely from the consolation of hope. If I may be al- 
lowed a theological term — the objective acts of faith ; 
those that related to the grand objects proposed in the 
Scriptures on the testimony of God, such as the work 
of redemption, the person of Christ, and the virtue of his 
blood, remained the same; nay, were ripened and 
strengthened as his dissolution approached : but the sub- 
jective acts of faith, those which respected his own in- 
terest in these blessings, and which gave life to the exer- 
cises of hope, rose and sunk w T ith his disease. He was 
precisely like a man oppressed by a heavy weight : as 
the load was lightened, he began to move and exert 
himself in his natural manner : when the burden was 
increased, he sunk down again under the oppression. 

" About a year before his death, when his powers of 
mind had for a long time been debilitated, but still re- 
tained some remnants of their former vigor, his religious 
feelings were at times truly desirable. His intellectual 
powers were indeed too far weakened for joy ; but there 
was a resignation, a tranquility, a ripeness of grace, a 
calm and holy repose on the bosom of the Saviour, that 
quite alarmed, if 1 may so speak, his anxious family, un- 
der the impression that there appeared nothing left for 
grace to do, and that he would soon be removed from 
them, as a shock of corn cometh in its season. Even 
when his disease had made still further progress, as of- 
ten as the slightest alleviation was afforded him, his 
judgment became more distinct, his morbid depression 
lessened, and he was moderately composed. It was 
only a few T weeks before his dissolution that such an in- 
terval w T as vouchsafed to him. He then spake with 
great feeling from the Scriptures, in family worship, for 
about half an hour ; and dwelt on the love, and grace, 
and power of Christ with particular composure of mind. 
I had the happiness of visiting him at this season. He 
was so much relieved from his disease, as to enter with 
me on general topics relating to religion, and to give me 
some excellent directions as to my conduct as a minister. 
In reply to various questions which I put to him, he 



CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL, 55 

spake to me to the following purport : ' I know myself 
to be a wretched, worthless, sinner/ (the seriousness and 
feeling with which he spake I shall never forget,) * hav- 
ing nothing in myself but poverty and sin. 1 know Je- 
sus Christ to be a glorious and almighty Saviour. ] see 
the full efficacy of his atonement and grace ; and I cast 
myself entirely on him, and wait at his footstool. I am 
aware that my diseased and broken mind makes me in- 
capable of receiving consolation ; but I submit myself 
wholly to the merciful and wise dispensations of God.' 

" One or two other interesting testimonies of the spirit- 
ual and devoted state of his heart may be here mention- 
ed. A short time before his decease, he requested one 
of his family to write down for him in a book the fol- 
lowing sentence; '"None but Christ, none but Christ," 
said Lambert dying at a stake: the same, in dying cir- 
cumstances, with his whole heart, saith Richard Cecil.' 
The name was signed by himself, with his left hand in 
a manner hardly legible through infirmity." 

Such was Mr. Cecil. I sincerely regret that some 
masterly observer did not both enjoy and improve op- 
portunities of delineating a more perfect picture of his 
great mind. I have, however, faithfully detailed the 
impressions which his character made on me, during a 
long course of affectionate admiration of him : nor have 
I shrunk from intermingling such remarks, as every faith- 
ful observer must find occasion to make while he is 
watching the unfoldings of the best and greatest of men. 

Christian Parents, and particular christian moth- 
ers, may gather from the history and character of our 
departed friend every possible encouragement to the un- 
wearied care of their children. While St. Austin, 
Bishop Hall, Richard Hooker, John Newton, Richard 
Cecil, and many other great and eminent servants of 
Christ, have left on record their grateful acknowledg- 
ments to their pious mothers, as the instruments, under 
the grace and blessing of God, of winning them to him- 
self, let no woman of faith and prayer despair respect- 
ing even her most untoward child. 

Mr. Cecil's mere admirers should feel what a weight 



56 CHARACTER OF MR. CECIL. 

of responsibility his ministry and his character have laid 
them under. They gave him the ear, but he labored 
for the heart. They were pleased with the man, but 
he prayed that they might become displeased with 
themselves. They would aid him in his schemes, but 
he was anxious that they should serve his Master. How 
soon must they meet him at that judgment-seat before 
which all must appear, to receive according to what 
they have done in the body whether good or evil ! 

His sincere friends are called to imitate his example 
— to follow him as he followed Christ — to live above 
this vain world — to sacrifice every thing to the honor of 
Christ and the interests of eternity — to bear up under 
pain and weariness and anxiety, leaning on Almighty 
strength ; till they join him in that world where weak- 
ness shall be felt no more ! 

JOSIAH PRATT. 



REMAINS 



OF THE 



REV. RICHARD CECIL, M. A. 



REMARKS MADE BY MR- CECIL, CHIEFLY IN CON- 
VERSATION WITH THE EDITOR, OR IN DISCUS- 
SIONS WHEN HE WAS PRESENT. 

" Multa ab eo prudenter disputata, multa etiam breviter et commode dic- 
ta memoriae mandabam, fierique studebam ejus prudentia doctior." — 
Cic. de Amicit. i. 

ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND CONFLICT. 

The direct cause of a Christian's spiritual life, is 
union with Christ. All attention to the mere circum- 
stantials of religion, has a tendency to draw the soul 
away from this union. Few men, except ministers, are 
called, by the nature of their station, to enter much into 
these circumstantials : — such, for instance, as the evi- 
dences of the truth of religion. Ministers feel this 
deadening effect of any considerable or continued atten- 
tion to externals : much more must private Christians. 
The head may be strengthened, till the heart is starved. 
Some private Christians, however, may be called on, 
by the nature of those circles in which they move, to be 
qualified to meet and refute the objections which may 
be urged against religion. Such men as well as min- 



56 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

isters, while they are furnishing themselves for this 
purpose, must acquiesce in the work which God ap- 
points for them, with prayer and watchfulness. If they 
cannot always live and abide close to the ark, and the 
pot of manna, and the cherubim, and the mercy seat ; 
yet they are drawing the water and gathering the wood 
necessary for the service of the camp. But let their 
hearts still turn toward the place where the Glory re- 
sideth. 



The Christian's fellowship with God is rather a habit, 
than a rapture. He is a pilgrim, who has the habit of 
looking forward to the light before him : he has the habit 
of not looking back ; he has the habit of walking stea- 
dily in the way, whatever be the weather, and whatever 
the road. These are his habits : and the Lord of the 
Way is his Guide, Protector, Friend, and Felicity. 



As the Christian's exigencies arise, he has a spiritual 
habit of turning to God, and saying, with the Church, 
"Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, where thou 
feedest, where thou maJcest thy flocks to rest at noon. 
I have tried to find rest elsewhere. I have fled to shel- 
ters, which held out great promise of repose ; but I 
have now long since learned to turn unto thee : ' Tell 
me, thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, 
wJiere thou mahest thy flocks to rest at noon? " 



The Christian will look back, throughout eternity, 
with interest and delight, on the steps and means of his 
conversion. " My father told me this ! My mother 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 57 

told me that ! Such an event was sanctified to me ! 
In such a place, God visited my soul ! " These recol- 
lections will never grow dull and wearisome. 



A volume might be written on the various methods 
which God has taken, in providence, to lead men first 
to think of him. 



The history of a man's own life is, to himself, the 
most interesting history in the world, next to that of the 
Scriptures. Every man is an original and solitary 
character. None can either understand or feel the 
book of his own life like himself. The lives of other 
men are to him dry and vapid, when set beside his own. 
He enters very little into the spirit of the Old Testa- 
ment, who does not see God calling on him to turn over 
the pages of this history when he says to the Jew, Thou 
shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy 
God led thee these forty years. He sees God teach- 
ing the Jew to look at the records of his deliverance Irom 
the Red Sea, of the manna showered down on him from 
heaven, and of the Amelekites put to flight before him. 
There are such grand events in the life and experience 
of every Christian, it may be well for liim to review 
them often. I have, in some cases, vowed before God, 
to appropriate yearly remembrances of some of the sig- 
nal turns of my life. Having made the vow, I hold it 
as obligatory : but I would advise others to greater 
circumspection; as they may bring a galling joke on 
themselves, which God designed not to put on them. 



True grace is a growing principle. The Christian 



58 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

grows in discernment : a child may play with a ser- 
pent ; but the man gets as far from it as he can : a child 
may taste poison ; but the man will not suffer a speck 
of poison near him. He grows in humility : the blade 
shoots up boldly,, and the young ear keeps erect with 
confidence : but the full corn in the ear inclines itself 
toward the earth, not because it is feebler, but because 
it is matured. He grows in strength : the new wine 
ferments and frets ; but the old wine acquires a body 
and a firmness. 



Tenderness of conscience is always to be distin- 
guished from scrupulousness. The conscience cannot 
be kept too sensible and tender : but scrupulousness 
arises from bodily or mental infirmity, and discovers it- 
self in a multitude of ridiculous, and superstitious, and 
painful feelings. 






The head is dull, in discerning the value of God's 
expedients ; and the heart cold, sluggish, and reluct- 
ant, in submitting to them : but the head is lively, in 
the invention of its own expedients ; and the heart eager 
and sanguine, in pursuit of them. No wonder, then, 
that God subjects both the head and the heart to a 
course of continual correction. 



Every man will have his own criterion in forming 
his judgment of others. I depend very much on the ef- 
fect of affliction. I consider how a man comes out of 
the furnace : gold will lie for a month in the furnace 
without losing a grain. And while under trial, a child 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 59 

has a habit of turning to his father : he is not like a 
penitent, who has been whipped into this state : it is 
natural to him. It is dark, and the child has no where 
to run, but to his father. 



Defilement is inseparable from the world. A man 
can no where rest his foot on it without sinking. A 
strong principle of assimulation combines the world and 
the heart together. There are, especially, certain cer- 
tain occasions, when the current hurries a man away, 
and he has lost the religious government of himself. 
When the pilot finds, on making the port of Messina, 
that the ship will not obey the helm, he knows that she 
is got within the influence of that attraction, which will 
bury her in the whirlpool. We are to avoid the dan- 
ger, rather than to oppose it. This is a great doctrine 
of Scripture. An active force against the world is not 
so much inculcated, as a retreating, declining spirit. 
Keep thyself unspotted from the world. 



There are seasons when a Christian's distinguished 
character is hidden from man. A Christian merchant 
on 'Change is not called to show any diiference in his 
mere exterior carriage from another merchant. He 
gives a reasonable answer if he is asked a question. He 
does not fanatically intrude religion into every sentence 
he utters. He does not suppose his religion to be in- 
consistent with the common interchange of civilities. 
He is affable and courteous. He can ask the news of 
the day, and take up any public topic of conversation. 
But is he, therefore, not different from other men ? He 



60 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

is like another merchant in the mere exterior circum- 
stance, which is least in God's regard ; — but, in his 
taste ! — his views ! — his science ! — his hopes ! — his hap- 
piness ! he is as different from those around him as 
light is from darkness. He waits for the corning of 
our Lord Jesus Christ who never passes perhaps 
through the thoughts of those he talks with, but to be 
neglected and despised ! 



The Christian is called to be like Abraham, in con- 
duct ; like Paul, in labors; and like John, in spirit 
Though, as a man of faith, he goes forth not knowing 
whither, and his principle is hidden from the world, yet 
he will oblige the world to acknowledge : " His views, 
it is true, we do not understand. His principles and 
general conduct are a mystery to us. But a more up- 
right, noble, generous, disinterested, peaceable, and be- 
nevolent man, we know not where to find." The world 
may even count him a madman ; and false bretheren 
may vilify his character, and calumniate his motives : 
yet he will bear down evil, by repaying good ; and will 
silence Ids enemies, by the abundance of his labors. 
He may be shut out from the world — cast into prison — 
banished into obscurity — no eye to observe him, no hand 
to help him — but it is enough for him, if his Saviour 
will speak to him and smile on him. 



Christians are too little aware what their religion 
requires from them, with regard to their wishes. When 
we wish things to be otherwise than they are, we lose 
sight of the great practical parts of the life of godliness. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 61 

We wish, and wish — when, if we have done all that lies 
on us, we should fall quietly into the hands of God. 
Such wishing cuts the very sinews of our privileges and 
consolations. You are leaving me for a time ; and you 
say you wish you could leave me better, or leave me 
with some assistance : but, if it is right for you to go, it 
is right for me to meet what lies on me, without a wish 
that I had less to meet, or were better able to meet it. 



I could write down twenty cases, wherein I wished 
God had done otherwise than he did ; but which I now 
see, had I had my own will, would have led to extensive 
mischief. The life of a Christian is a life of paradoxes. 
He must lay hold on God : he must follow hard after 
him : he must determine not to let him go. And yet 
he must learn to let God alone. Quietness before God 
is one of the most difficult of all Christian graces — to 
sit where he places us ; to be what he would have us to 
be, and this as long as he pleases. We are like a 
player at bowls ; if he has given his bowl too little bias, 
he cries, " Flee :" if he has given it too much, he cries, 
"Rub ;" you see him lifting his leg, and bending his body 
in conformity to the motion he would impart to the 
bowl. Thus I have felt with regard to my dispensa- 
tions : I would urge them or restrain them : I would as- 
similate them to the habit of my mind. But I have 
smarted for this under severe visitations. It may seem 
a harsh, but it is a wise and gracious dispensation, to- 
ward a man, when, the instant he stretches out his hand 
to order his affairs, God forces him to withdraw it. 
Concerning what is morally good or evil, we are sutli- 



62 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

ciently informed for our direction ; but 
what is naturally good or evil, we are ignorance itself. 
Restlessness and self-will are opposed to our duty in 
these cases. 



Schooling the heart is the grand means of perso- 
nal religion. To bring motives under faithful examina- 
tion, is a high state of religious character : with regard 
to the depravity of the heart we live daily in the disbelief 
of our own creed. We indulge thoughts and feelings, 
which are founded upon the presumption that all around 
us are imperfect and corrupted, but lhat we are ex- 
empted. The self-will and ambition and passion of 
public characters in the religious world, all arise from 
this sort of practical infidelity. And though its effects 
are so manifest in these men, because they are leaders 
of parties, and are set upon a pinnacle so that all who 
are without the influence of their vortex can see them ; 
yet every man's own breast has an infallible, dogmatiz- 
ing, excommunicating, and anathematizing spirit work- 
ins: within. 



Acting from the occasion, without recollection and 
inquiry, is the death of personal religion. It will not 
suffice merely to retire to the study or the closet. The 
mind is sometimes, in private, most ardently pursuing 
its particular object ; and, as it then acts from the oc- 
casion, nothing is further from it than recollectedness. 
I have for weeks together, in pursuit of some scheme 
acted so entirely from the occasion, that, when I have at 
length called myself to account, I have seemed like one 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 63 

awakened from a dream. "Am I the man who could 
think and speak so and so ? Am I the man who could 
feel such a disposition, or discover such conduct?" 
The fascination and enchantment of the occasion is 
vanished ; and I stand like David in similar circum- 
stances before Nathan. Such cases in experience are, 
in truth, a moral intoxication ; and the man is only then 
sober, when he begins to school his heart. 



The servant of God has not only natural sensibilities, 
by which he feels, in common with other men, the sor- 
rows of life ; but he has moral sensibilities, which are 
peculiar to his character. When David was driven 
from his kingdom, he not only felt depressed as an ex- 
ile and wanderer ; but he would recollect his own sin 
as punished in the affliction. Eli had not only to suffer 
the pangs of a father in the loss of his sons ; but he would 
recal in the bitterness of his spirit, his own mismanage- 
ment, in bringing up these sons. St. Paul had not only 
to endure the thorn in the flesh ; but he would feel that 
he carried about him propensities to self-exaltation, 
which rendered that thorn necessary and salutary. 



Dangerous predicaments are the brinks of tempta- 
tions. A man often gives evidence to others that he is 
giddy, though he is not aware of it perhaps himself. 
Whoever has been in danger himself will guess very 
shrewdly concerning the dangerous state of such a man. 

A haughty spirit is a symptom of extreme danger — 
A haughty spirit tjoeth before a fall. 

Vresumptuous carelessness indicates danger. 



64 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

"Who fears?" This is to be feared, that you feel 
no cause of fear. Such was Peter's state : Though all 
men forsake thee, yet will not I. 

Venturing on the borders of danger is much akin 
to this. A man goes on pretty well till he ventures 
within the atmosphere of clanger : but the atmosphere 
of danger infatuates him. The ship is got within the 
influence of the vortex, and will not obey the helm. 
David was sitting in this atmosphere on the house-top, 
and was ensnared and fell. 

An accession of wealth is a dangerous predicament 
for a man. At first he is stunned, if the accession be 
sudden : he is very humble and very grateful. Then 
he begins to speak a little louder, people think him 
more sensible, and soon he thinks himself so. 

A man is in imminent danger when, in suspected 
circumstances, he is disposed to equivocate, as Abra- 
ham did with Pharaoh, and Isaac with Abimelech. 

Stupidity of conscience under chastisement — ^an ad- 
vancement to power, when a man begins to relish such 
power — popularity — self-indulgence — a disposition to 
gad about, like Dinah — all these are symptoms of spir- 
itual danger. 



A change of circumstances in our condition of life 
is a critical period. No man who has not passed 
through such a change, can form any adequate notion of 
its effects upon the mind. When money comes into 
the pocket of a poor man in small sums, it goes out as 
it came in, and more follows it in the same way ; and 
with a certain freedom and indifference, it is applied to 
its proper uses : but when he begins to receive round 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 09 

sums, that may yield him an interest, and when this in- 
terest comes to be added to his principal, and the sweets 
of augmentation to creep over him, it is quite a new 
world to him. In a rise of circumstances, too, the man 
becomes, in his own opinion, a wiser man, a greater 
man ; and pride of station crosses him in his way. Nor 
is the contrary change less dangerous. Poverty has 
its trials. That is a fine trait in the Pilgrim's Progress, 
that Christian stumbled in going down the Hill into the 
Valley of Humiliation. 



A sound head, a simple heart, and a spirit dependent 
on Christ, will suffice to conduct us in every variety of 
circumstances. 



I cannot look through my past life without trem- 
bling. A variation in my circumstances has been at- 
tended with dangers and difficulties, little of which I 
saw at the time compared with what reflection has since 
shewn me, but which in the review of them make me 
shudder, and ought to fill me with gratitude. He, who 
views this subject aright, will put up particular prayer 
against sudden attacks. 



God will have the Christian thoroughly humbled and 
dependent. Strong minds think perhaps sometime, 
that they can effect great things in experience by keep- 
ing themselves girt up, by the recurrence of habit, by 
vigorous exertion. This is their unquestionable duty. 
But God often strips them, lest they should grow confi- 
dent. He lays them bare — He makes them feel poor, 

dark, impotent. He seems to say, " Strive with all 

f 2 



66 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

your vigor, but yet I am he that worketh all in all. 55 



There is no calling or profession, however ensnaring 
in many respects to a Christian mind, provided it be not 
in itself simply unlawful, wherein God has not fre- 
quently raised up faithful witnesses, who have stood 
forth for examples to others, in like situations, of the 
practicability of uniting great eminence in the Christian 
life with the discharge of the duties of their profession, 
however difficult. 



Fear has the most steady effect on the constitutional 
temperament of some Christians, to keep them in their 
course. A strong sense of duty fixes on the minds of 
others, and is the prevailing principle of conduct, with- 
out any direct reference to consequences. On minds of 
a stubborn, refractory, and self-willed temper, fear and 
duty have in general little effect : they brave fear, and 
a mere sense of duty is a cold and lifeless principle ; 
but gratitude, under a strong and subduing sense of 
mercies, melts them into obedience. 



There is a large class, who would confound nature 
and grace. These are chiefly women. They sit at 
home, nursing themselves over a fire, and then trace up 
the natural effects of solitude and want of air and ex- 
ercise into spiritual desertion. There is more pride in 
this than they are aware of. They are unwilling to al- 
low so simple and natural a cause of their feelings, and 
wish to find something in the thing more sublime. 



There are so many things to lower a man's topsails ■ 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 67 

he is such a dependent creature — he is to pay such 
court to his stomach, his food, his sleep, his exercise — 
that, in truth, a hero is an idle word. Man seems form- 
ed to be a hero in suffering — not a hero in action. Men 
err in nothing more than in their estimate which they 
make of human labor. The hero of the world is the 
man that makes a bustle — the man that makes the road 
smoke under his chaise -and-four — the man that raises a 
dust about him — the man that manages or devastates 
empires ! But what is the real labor of this man — com- 
pared with that of a silent sufferer ? He lives on his 
projects. He encounters, perhaps, rough roads — in- 
commodious inns — bad food — storms and perils — weary 
days and sleepless nights : — but what are these ! — his 
project — his point — the thing that has laid hold on his 
heart — glory — a name — consequence — pleasure — 
wealth — these render the man callous to the pains and 
efforts of the body ! I have been in both states, and 
therefore understand them ; and I know that men form 
this false estimate. Besides — there is something in bus- 
tle, and stir, and activity, that supports itself. At one 
period, I preached and read five times on a Sunday, 
and rode sixteen miles. But what did it cost me ? No- 
thing ! Yet most men would have looked on while I 
was rattling from village to village, with all the dogs 
barking at my heels, and would have called me a hero : 
whereas, if they were to look at me now, they would 
call me an idle, lounging fellow. " He makes a sermon 
on the Saturday — he gets into his study — lie walks from 
end to end — he scribbles on a scrap of paper — he 
throws it away and scribbles on another — he takes snuif 
— he sits down- -scribbles again — walks about." The 



68 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

man cannot see that here is an exhaustion of the spirit, 
which, at night, will leave me worn to the extremity of 
endurance. He cannot see the numberless efforts of 
mind, which are crossed and stifled, and recoil on the 
spirits ; like the fruitless efforts of a traveller to get firm 
footing among the ashes on the steep sides of Mount 
Etna.* 



Elijah appears to have been a man of what we call 
a great spirit : yet we never find him rising against 
the humiliating methods which God was sometimes 
pleased to take with him ; whether he is to depend for 
his daily food on the ravens, or is to be nourished by the 
slender pittance of a perishing widow. Pride would 
choose for us such means of provision, as have some ap- 
pearance of our own agency in them ; and stout-heart- 
edness would lead us to refuse things, if we cannot have 
them in our own way. 



The blessed man is he, who is under education in 
God's school ; where he endures chastisement, and by 
chastisement is instructed. The foolish creature is be- 
withed, sometimes with the enchantments and sorceries 
of life. He begins to lose the lively sense of that some- 
thing, which is superior to the glory of the world. His 
grovelling soul begins to say, " Is not this fine ? Is 
not that charming? Is not that noble house worth a 
wish ? Is not that equipage worth a sigh ?" He must 
go to the word of God to know what a thing is worth. 
He must be taught there to call things by their proper 

* See the Adventurer. No. cxxvii. J. P. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 69 

names. If he have lost this habit, when his heart puts 
the questions he will answer them like a fool ; as I have 
done a thousand times. He will forget that God puts 
his children into possession of these things, as mere 
stewards ; and that the possession of them increases 
their responsibility. He will sit down and plan, and 
scheme to obtain possessioji of things, which he for- 
gets are to be burnt and destroyed. But God dashes 
the fond scheme in pieces. He disappoints the project. 
And, with the chastisement he sends instruction ; for he 
knows that the silly creature if left to himself, would 
begin, like the spider whose web has been swept away, 
to spin again. And then the man who sees that Job is 
blessed — not, when God gives him sons and daughters, 
and flocks and herds, and power, and honor ; but when 
God takes all these away — not when the schemes of 
his carnal heart are indulged ; but when they are cross- 
ed and disappointed. A stubborn and rebellious mind 
in a Christian, must be kept low by dark and trying 
dispensations. The language of God, in his provi- 
dence, to such an one, is generally of this kind : " I 
will not wholly hide myself. I will be seen by thee. 
But thou shalt never meet me, except in a dark night 
and in a storm." Ministers of such a natural spirit are 
often fitted for eminent usefulness by these means. 



The Christian, in his sufferings, is often tempted to 
think himself forgotten. But his affections aie the 
clearest proofs, that he is an object both of Satans's en- 
mity, and of God's fatherly discipline. Satan would 
not have man suffer a single trouble all his lite long, it 
he might have his way. He would give him the thing 



70 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

his heart is set upon. He would work in with his am- 
bition. He would pamper his lusts and his pride. But 
God has better things in reserve for his children : and 
they must be brought to desire them and seek them ; 
and this will be through the wreck and sacrifice of all 
that the heart holds dear. The Christian prays for 
fuller manifestations of Christ's power and glory and 
love to him ; but he is often not aware that this is, in 
truth, praying to be brought into the furnace ; for in the 
furnace only it is, that Christ can walk with his friends, 
and display, in their preservation and deliverance, his 
own almighty power. Yet, when brought thither, it is 
one of the worst parts of the trial, that the Christian 
often thinks himself, for a time at least, abandoned. 
Job thought so. But while he looked on himself as an 
outcast, the infinite Spirit and the wicked Spirit were 
holding a dialogue on his case ! He was more an ob- 
ject of notice and interest, than the largest armies that 
were ever assembled, and the mightiest revolutions that 
ever shook the world, considered merely in their tem- 
poral interests and consequences. Let the Christian be 
deeply concerned, in all his trials, to honor his Master 
before such observers ! 



Affliction has a tendency, especially if long con- 
tinued, to generate a kind of despondency and ill-tem- 
per : and spiritual incapacity is closely connected with 
pain and sickness. The spirit of prayer does not ne- 
cessarily come with affliction. If this be not poured 
out upon the man, he will, like a wounded beast, skulk 
to his den and growl there. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 71 

God lias marked implicitness and simplicity of 
faith with peculiar approbation. He has done this 
throughout the Scripture ; and he is doing it daily in 
the Christian life. An unsuspecting, unquestioning, 
unhesitating spirit, he delights to honor. He does not 
delight in a credulous, weak, and unstable mind. He 
gives us full evidence, when he calls and leads ; but 
he expects to find in us — what he himself bestows — an 
open ear and disposed heart. Though he gives us not 
the evidence of sense ; yet lie gives such evidence as 
will be heard by an open ear, and followed by a dis- 
posed heart: — Thomas ! because thou hast seen me, 
thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not 
seen, and yet have believed. We are witnesses what 
an open ear and a disposed heart will do in men of the 
world. If wealth is in pursuit — if a place presents it- 
self before them — if their persons and families and af- 
fairs are the object — a whisper, a hint, a probability, a 
mere chance, is a sufficient ground of action. It is this 
very state of mind with regard to religion, which God 
delights in and honors. He seems to put forth his hand, 
and to say — " Put thy hand into mine. Follow all my 
leadings. Keep thyself attentive to every turn." 



A sound heart is an excellent casuist. Men stand 
doubting what they shall do, while an evil heart is at 
the bottom. If, with St. Paul, they simply did one 
thing, the way would be plain. A miser, or an ambi- 
tious mail, knows his points ; and he has such a sim- 
plicity in the pursuit of them, that you seldom find him 
at a loss about the steps which he should take to attain 
them. He has acquired a sort of instinctive habit in 



72 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

his pursuit. Simplicity and rectitude would have pre- 
vented a thousand schisms in the Church ; which have 
generally risen from men having something else in plan 
and prospect, and not the one thing. 



What I do thou Tcnowest not now ; but thou shalt 
know hereafter — is the unwearied language of God., 
in his providence. He will have credit every step. 
He will not assign reasons, because he will exercise 
faith. 



Pride urges men to inquire into the Philosophy of 
divine truth. They are not contented, for example, 
with the account which the Bible gives of the origin of 
evil, and its actual influence on mankind ; but they 
would supply what God has left untold. They would 
explain the fitness and propriety of things. A mathe- 
matician may summon his scholars round his chair, and 
from self-evident principles deduce and demonstrate 
his conclusions : lie has axioms ; but concerning evil 
we have none. A Christian may say on this subject, 
as Sir Christopher Wren did concerning the roof of 
King's College Chapel — ■ Show me how to fix the first 
stone, and I will finish the building." — "Explain the 
origin of evil, and I will explain every other difficulty 
respecting evil/' We are placed in a disposition and 
constitution of things, under a righteous Governor. If 
we will not rest satisfied with this, something is wrong 
in our state of mind. It is a solid satisfaction to every 
man who has been seduced into foolish inquiries that it 
is utterly impossible to advance one inch by them. He 
must come back to rest in God's appointment ; he must 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 73 

come back to sit patiently, meekly, and with docility, 
at the feet of a teacher. 



Duties are ours : events are God's. This removes an 
infinite burden from the shoulders of a miserable, temp- 
ted, dying creature. On this consideration only, can he 
securely lay down his head and close his eyes. 

The Christian often thinks, and schemes, and talks, 
like a practical Atheist. His eye is so conversant with 
second causes, that the great Mover is little regarded. 
And yet those sentiments and that conduct of others, by 
which his affairs are influenced, are not formed by 
chance and at random. They are attracted toward the 
system of his affairs, or repelled from them, by the 
highest power. We talk of attraction in the universe ; 
but there is no such tiling, as we are accustomed to con- 
sider it. The natural and moral worlds are held to- 
gether in their respective operations, by an incessant 
administration. It is the mighty grasp of a controll- 
ing hand, which keeps every thing in its station. 
Were this control suspended, there is nothing adequate 
to the preservation of harmony and affection between 
my mind and that of my dearest friend, for a single 
hour. 



Lord Chesterfield tells his son, that when be enter- 
ed into the world and heard the conjectures and notions 
about public affairs, he was surprised at their tolls ; 
because he was in the secret, and knew whal was pass- 
ing in the cabinet. We negociate. We make trea- 
ties. We make war, \\V cry for peace. We have 

G 



74 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

public hopes and fears. We distrust one minister, and 
we repose on another. We recal one general or admi- 
ral, because he has lost the national confidence, and we 
send out another with a full tide of hopes and expecta- 
tions. We find something in men and measures, as 
the sufficient cause of all sufferings or anticipations. — 
But a religious man enters the cabinet. He sees, in all 
public fears and difficulties, the pressure of God's hand. 
So long as this pressure continues, he knows that we 
may move heaven and earth in vain; every thing is 
bound up in icy fetters. But, when God removes his 
hand, the waters flow, measures avail, and hopes are 
accomplished. 



We are too apt to forget our actual dependence on 
providence, for the circumstances of every instant. 
The most trivial events may determine our state in the 
world. Turning up one street instead of another, may 
bring us into company with a person whom we should 
not otherwise have met ; and this may lead to a train of 
other events, which which may determine the happiness 
or misery of our lives. 



Light may break in upon a man after he has taken 
a particular step ; but he will not condemn himself for 
the step taken in a less degree of light : he may here- 
after see still better than he now does, and have reason 
to alter his opinion again. It is enough to satisfy us of 
our duty, if we are conscious at the time we take a 
step, we have an adequate motive. If we are consci- 
ous of a wrong motive, or of a rash proceeding, for 
such steps we must expect to suffer. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL 75 

I 

Trouble or difficulty befalling us after any particular 
step, is not of itself, an argument that the step was 
wrong. A storm overtook the disciples in the ship ; 
but this was no proof that they had done wrong to go 
on board. Esau met Jacob, and occasioned him great 
fear and anxiety, when he left Laban ; but this did not 
prove him to have done wrong in the step which he had 
taken. Difficulties are no ground of presumption 
against us, when we did not run into them in following 
our own will ; yet the Israelites were with difficulty con- 
vinced that they were in the path of duty, when they 
found themselves shut in by the Red Sea. Christians, 
and especially ministers, must expect troubles : it is in 
this way that God leads them : he conducts them " per 
ardua ad astra." They would be in imminent dan- 
ger if the multitude at all times cried Hosanna ! 

We must remember that we are short-sighted crea- 
tures. We are like an unskilful chess-player, who 
takes the next piece, while a skilful one looks further. 
He, who sees the end from the beginning, will often 
appoint us a most inexplicable way to walk in. Joseph 
was put into the pit and the dungeon : but this was the 
way which led to the throne. 

We often want to know too much and too soon. We 
want the light of to-morrow, but it will not come till to- 
morrow. And then a slight turn, perhaps, will throw 
such light on our path, that we shall be astonished we 
saw not our way before. " I can wait," says Lavater. 
This is a high attainment. We must labor, therefore, 
to be quiet in that path, from which we cannot recede 
without danger and evil. 



76 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

There is not a nobler sight in the world, than an aged 
and experienced Christian, who, having been sifted in 
the sieve of temptation, stands forth as a confirmer of 
the assaulted — testifying, from his own trials, the real- 
ity of religion ; and meeting, by his warnings and di- 
rections and consolations, the cases of all who may be 
tempted to doubt it. 



The Christian expects his reward, not as due to 
merit ; but as connected, in a constitution of grace, 
with those acts which grace enables him to perform. 
The pilgrim, who has been led to the gate of heaven, 
w T ill not knock there as worthy of being admitted ; but 
the gate shall open to him, because he is brought thith- 
er. He, who sows, even with tears, the precious 
seed of faith, hope, and love, shall doubtless come 
again with joy, and bring his sheaves with hi?n ; be- 
cause it is in the very nature of that seed, to yield, un- 
der the kindly influence secured to it, a joyful harvest 



ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE CHRISTIAN 
MINISTRY. 

ON A MINISTER'S QUALIFYING HIMSELF FOR HIS OFFICE. 

When a young minister sets out, he should sit down 
and ask himself how he may best qualify himself 

FOR HIS OFFICE. 

How does a physician qualify himself? It is not 
enough that he offers to feel the pulse. He must read, 



REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 77 

and enquire, and observe, and make experiments, and 
correct himself again and again. He must lay in a 
stock of medical knowledge before he begins to feel 
the pulse. 

The minister is a physician of a far higher order. 
He has a vast field before him. He has to study an in- 
finite variety of constitutions. He is to furnish him- 
self with the knowledge of the whole system of reme- 
dies. He is to be a man of skill and expedient. If 
one thing fail, he must know how to apply another. 
Many intricate and perplexed cases will come before 
him : it will be disgraceful to him not to be prepared 
for such. His patients will put many questions to him : 
it will be disgraceful to him not to be prepared to 
answer them. He is a merchant embarking in exten- 
sive concerns. A little ready money in the pocket will 
not answer the demands that will be made upon him. 
Some of us seem to think it will. But they are grossly 
deceived. There must be a well furnished account at 
the banker's. 

But it is not all gold that glitters. A young minis- 
ter must learn to separate and select his materials. A 
man who talks to himself will find out what suits the 
heart of man : some things respond : they ring again. 
Nothing of this nature is lost on mankind : it is worth its 
weight in gold, for the service of a minister. He must 
remark, too, what it is that puzzles and distracts the 
mind : all this is to be avoided: it may wear the garb 
of deep research, and great acumen, and extensive 
Learning ; but it is nothing to the mass of mankind. 

One of the most important considerations in making 
a sermon, is to disembarrass it as much as possible. 

c 2 



78 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL* 

The sermons of the last century were like their large, 
unwieldy chairs. Men have now a far more true idea 
of a chair. They consider it as a piece of furniture to 
sit upon, and they cut away from it every thing that 
embarrasses and encumbers it. It requires as much re- 
flection and wisdom to know what is not to be put into 
a sermon, as what is. 

A young minister should likewise look round him, 
that he may see what has succeeded and what has not. 
Truth is to be his companion, but he is to clothe her so 
as to gain her access. Truth must never bow to fashion 
or prejudice ; but her garb may be varied. No man was 
ever eminently successful in his ministry, who did not 
make truth his friend. Such a man might not see her, 
indeed, in all her beauty and proportions ; but, certain- 
ly, he saw and loved her. A young minister should 
remember that she does not wear the dress of a party. 
Wherever she is, she is one and the same, however va- 
riously men may array her. He, who is ignorant of her 
prominent and distinguishing features, is like a musi- 
cian who plays half score : it grates on every well- 
formed ear ; as fatal error finds no corresponding vi- 
bration in the renewed heart. Truth forms an imme- 
diate acquaintance with such a heart, by a certain fit- 
ness and suitableness to its state and feelings. She is 
something different from the picture which a Church- 
man draws of her. A Dissenter misses her perfect 
figure. A Frenchman distorts her features in one way : 
and an Englishman in another. Every one makes his 
own cast and color too essential to her. 

Knowledge, then, and truth, are to be the constant 
aim of a young minister. But where shall he find them ? 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 79 

Let him learn from a fool, if a fool can teach him any- 
thing. Let him be every where, and always a learner. 
He should imitate Gainsborough. Gainsborough trans- 
fused nature into his landscapes, beyond almost any of 
his contemporaries : because Gainsborough was every 
where the painter. Every remarkable feature or posi- 
tion of a tree — every fine stroke of nature — was copied 
into his pocket-book on the spot ; and, in his next pic- 
ture, appeared with a life and vivacity and nature, 
which no strength of memory or imagination could have 
supplied. 

There is a certain wise way, too, in which he should 
accustom himself to look down on the pursuits of all 
other men. No man of eminence in his profession is 
destitute of such a partial feeling for his profession ; 
though his judgment may remonstrate with him thereon, 
as an unfounded partiality. The minister, however, is 
required so to view all other pursuits. He alone is the 
man whose aim is eternity. He alone is the man, whose 
office and profession, in all their parts, are raised into 
dignity and importance, by their direct reference to 
eternity. For eternity he schemes, and plans, and 
labors. 

He should become a philosopher also. He should 
make experiments on himself and others, in order to 
find out what will produce effect. He is a fisherman ; 
and the fisherman must fit himself to his employment. 
If some fish will bite only by day, he must fish by day ; 
if others will bite only by moonlight, he must fish for 
them by moonlight. He has an engine io work, and it 
must be his most assiduous endeavour to work his en- 
gine to the full extent of its powers: and, to find out 



80 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

its powers, is the first step toward success and effect. 
Many men play admirably on the organ, if you would 
allow to them that there is no difference between an 
organ and a harpsicord, but they have utterly mistaken 
its powers. Combination is the unrivalled excellence 
of the organ ; and therefore he only can display its 
powers, who studies the chords and stops in all their 
infinite variety of resolution and composition, rather 
than the rapid motion of his fingers only. 

But all the minister's efforts will be vanity, or worse 
than vanity, if he have not unction. Unction must come 
down from heaven, and spread a savor and relish and 
feeling over his ministry. And, among all the other 
means of qualifying himself for his office, the Bible 
must hold the first place, and the last also must be 
given to the word of God and prayer. 



ON THE ASSISTANCE WHICH A MINISTER HAS REASON TO 
EXPECT IN THE DISCHARGE OF HIS PUBLIC DUTY. 

Men have carried their views on this subject to ex- 
tremes. Enthusiasts have said that learning, and that 
studying and writing sermons, have injured the church. 
The accurate men have said, "Go and hear one of these 
enthusiasts hold forth ! " 

But both classes may be rendered useful. Let each 
correct its evils, yet do its work in its own way. 

Some men set up exhorbitant notions about accuracy. 
But exquisite accuracy is totally lost on mankind. The 
greater part of those who hear, cannot be brought 
to see the points of the accurate man. The Scriptures 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 81 

are not written in this manner. I should advise a 
young minister to break through all such cobwebs, as 
these unphilosophical men would spin round him. An 
humble and modest man is silenced, if he sees one of 
these critics before him. He should say, " I am God's 
servant. To my own master I stand or fall. I will labor 
according to the utmost ability which God giveth, and 
leave all consequences to him." 

We are especially taught in the New Testament, to 
glorify the Spirit of God ; and, in his gracious opera- 
tions in our ministry, we are nearer the apostolic times 
than we often think ourselves. But this assistance is 
to be expected by us, as laborers in the vineyard ; not 
as rhapsodists. Idle men may be pointed out, who 
have abused the doctrine of divine assistance ; but 
what has not been abused ? We must expect a special 
blessing to accompany the truth : not to supersede 
labor, but to rest on and accompany labor. 

A minister is to be in season, and out of season ; 
and, therefore, every where a minister. He will not 
employ himself in writing secular histories : he will 
not busy himself in prosecuting mathematical inquiries. 
He will labor directly in his high calling : and indi • 
rectly, in a vast variety of ways, as he may be enabled : 
and God may bless that word in private, which may 
have been long heard in public in vain. 

A minister should satisfy himself in saying, " It mat- 
ters not what men think of my talents. Am I doing 
what I can?" — for there is great encouragement in that 
commendation of our Lord's, She hath done what she 
could. It would betray a wrong state of mind to sa\ , 
u If I had discharged my duty in such and such a way, 



82 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

I should have succeeded." This is a carnal spirit. If 
God bless the simple manner in which you spoke, that 
will do good ; if not, no manner of speaking could have 
done it. 

There is such a thing in the religious world as a 
cold, carnal wisdom : every thing must be nicely 
weighed in the scales ; every thing must be exactly 
measured by the rule. I question if this is not worse, 
in its consequences, than the enthusiasm which it op- 
poses. Both are evil, and to be shunned. But I 
scarcely ever knew a preacher or writer of this class 
who did much good. 

We are to go forth, expecting the excellency of 
God's power to accompany us, since we are but earth- 
en vessels : and if, in the apostolic days, diligence was 
necessary, how much more requisite is it now ! 

But to the exercise of this diligence, a sufficiency in 
all things is promised. What does a minister require ? 
In all these respects the promise is applicable to him. 
He needs, for instance, courage and patience : he may, 
therefore, expect that the Holy Spirit will enable him 
for the exercise of these graces. 

A minister may expect more superintendence, more 
elevation, than a hearer. It can scarcely be question- 
ed that he ought to pray for this ; if so, he has a ground 
in Scripture thus to pray. 

I have been cured of expecting the Holy Spirit's in- 
fluence without due preparation on our part, by observ- 
ing how men preach who take up that error. I have 
heard such men talk nonsense by the hour. 

We must combine Luther with St. Paul — "Bene 
orasse est bene studuisse? must be united with St. 



REMAINS OF MR, CECIL. 83 

Paul's Meditate upon these things : give thyself 
wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to 
all. One errs who says, " I will preach a reputable 
sermon :" and another errs who says, " I will leave all 
to the assistance of the Holy Spirit," while he has ne- 
glected a diligent preparation. 



ON PREACHING CHRIST. 

We preach Christ crucified — 1 Cor. i. 23. 

Christ is God's great ordinance. Nothing ever has 
been done, or will be done to purpose, but so far as he 
is held forth with simplicity. All the lines must centre 
in him. I feel this in my own experience, and there- 
fore I govern my ministry by it : but then this is to be 
done according to the analogy of faith — not ignor- 
antly, absurdly, and falsely. I doubt not, indeed, but 
that excess on this side is less pernicious than excess on 
the other ; because God will bless his own especial or- 
dinance, though partially understood and partially ex- 
hibited. 



There are many weighty reasons for rendering 
Christ prominent in our ministry : — 

1. Christ cheers the prospect. Every tiling con- 
nected with him has light and gladness thrown round it. 
I look out of my window : — the scene is scowling — 
dark — frigid — forbidding: I shudder — my heart is chill- 
ed. But let the sun break forth from the cloud — I can 
feel — I can act — 1 can spring. 

2. Gad descending and dwelling with man, is a 



84 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

truth so infinitely grand, that it must absorb all 
others. " You are his attendants ! Well ! but the king ! 
There he is ! — the king !" 

3. Out of Christ God is not intelligible, much 
less amiable. Such men as Clarke and Abernethy talk 
sublime nonsense. A sick woman said to me — c Sir ! 
I have no notion of God. I can form no notion of him. 
You talk to me about hirn, but I cannot get a single 
idea that seems to contain any thing/ — ' But you know 
how to conceive of Jesus Christ as a man ! God comes 
down to you in him, full of kindness and condescension/ 
— ' Ah ! Sir, that gives me something to lay hold on. 
There I can rest. I understand God in his Son/ But 
if God is not intelligible out of Christ, much less is he 
amiable, though I ought to feel him so. He is an ob- 
ject of horror and aversion to me, corrupted as I am ! I 
fear — I tremble — I resist — I hate — I rebel. 

4. A preacher may pursue his topic, without be- 
ing led by it to Christ. A man who is accustomed to 
investigate topics is in danger. He takes up his topic 
and pursues it. He takes up another and pursues it. 
At length Jesus Christ becomes his topic, and then he 
pursues that. If he cannot so feel and think as to bend 
all subjects naturally and gracefully to Christ, he must 
seek his remedy in selecting such as are more evangeli- 
cal. 

5. God puts peculiar honor on the preaching of 
Christ crucified. A philosopher may philosophize his 
hearers, but the preaching of Christ must convert them. 
John the Baptist will make his hearers tremble ; but, if 
the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, 
let him exhibit that peculiar feature of his superiority 



■j 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 85 

— Jesus Christ. Men may preach Christ ignorantly — 
blunderingly — absurdly : yet God will give it efficcay, 
because he is determined to magnify his own ordinance. 
6. God seems, in the doctrine of the cross, to de- 
sign the destruction of man s pride. Even the mur- 
derer and the adulterer sometimes become subjects of 
the grace of the Gospel,, because the murderer and adul- 
terer are more easily convinced and humbled : but the 
man of virtue is seldom reached, because the man of 
virtue disdains to descend. Remember me, saved a 
dying malefactor ! — God, I thank Thee, condemned a 
proud Pharisee ! 



Every minister should therefore enquire, " what is 

FOR ME THE WISEST WAY OF PREACHTNG CHRIST TO MEN :" 

Some seem to think that in the choice of a wise way, 
there lurks always a trimming disposition. There are 
men, doubtless, who will sacrifice to self, even Christ 
Jesvs the Lord: but they, of all men, are farthest 
from the thing. There is a secret in doing it, which 
none but an honest man can discover. The knave is 
not half wise enough. 

We are not to judge one another in these things. 
Sufficient it is, to us, to know what we have to do, 
There are different ways of doing the same thing, and 
that with success and acceptance. We see this in the 
apostles themselves. They not only preached Christ in 
different ways; but, what is more, they could not do 
this like one another. They declare this fart them- 
selves; and acknowledge the grace of God in their 
respective gifts. Our beloved brother Paul writes, 
says St. Peter, according to I In- wisdom given unto 



86 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 

him. But there are Peters, in our days, who would 
say — " Paul is too learned. Away with these things, 
which are hard to be understood. He should be more 
simple. I dislike all this reasoning." And there are 
Pauls, who would say, " Peter is rash and unguarded. 
He should put a curb on his impetuosity." And there 
are Johns, who would say, " They should both dis- 
charge their offices in my soft and winning manner. 
No good will come of this fire and noise." Nothing of 
this sort ! Each hath his proper gift of God ; one af- 
ter this manner, and another after that : and each 
seems only desirous to occupy faithfully till his Mas- 
ter come, leaving his brethren to stand or fall to their 
own Master. 

Too much dependence is often placed on a system of 
rational contrivance. An ingenious man thinks he 
can so manage to preach Christ, that his hearers will 
say — " Here is nothing of methodism ! This has no- 
thing to do with that system !" I will venture to say, 
if this is the sentiment communicated by his ministry, 
that he has not delivered his message. The people do 
not know what he means, or he has kept back part of 
God's truth. He has fallen on a carnal contrivance, 
to avoid a cross, and he does no good to souls. The 
whole message must be delivered ; and it is better 
it should be delivered even coarsely, than not at all. 
We may lay it down as a principle — That if the Gos- 
be a medicine, and a specific too — as it is — it must be 
got down such as it is. Any attempt to sophisticate 
and adulterate will deprive it of its efficacy : and will 
often recoil on the man who makes the attempt, to his 
shame and confusion. The Jesuits tried to render 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 87 

Christianity palatable to the Chinese by adulterating it ; 
but the Jesuits were driven with abhorrence from the 
empire. 

If we have to deal with men of learning, let us shew 
learning so far as to demonstrate that it bears its testi- 
mony to the truth. But accomodation in manner must 
often spring from humility. We must condescend to 
the capacity of mem and make the truth intelligible to 
them. 

If this be our manner of preaching Christ, we must 
make up our minds not to regard the little caviller who 
will judge us by the standard of his favorite author or 
preacher. We must be cautious, too, since men of 
God have been and ever will be the butt and scorn of 
the world, of thinking that we can escape its snares and 
its censures. It is a foolish project — To avoid giving 
offence ; but it is our duty to avoid giving unneces- 
sary offence. It is necessary offence, if it it given by 
the truth : but it is unnecessary, if our own spirit occa- 
sion it. 

I have often thought that St. Paul was raised up pe- 
culiarly to be an example to others, in laboring to dis- 
cover the wisest way of exhibiting the Gospel ; not only 
that he was to be a great pattern in other points, but 
designedly raised up for this very thing. How docs 
he labor to make the truth reasonably plain ! How 
docs he strain every nerve and ransack everj corner of 
the heart, to make it reasonably palatable! We 
need not to be instructed in l.is particular meaning 
when be says, f became all things to all men, if by 
any means I might save some. His history is a com- 
ment on the declaration. 



88 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

The knowledge of Jesus Christ is a wonderful mys- 
tery. Some»men think they preach Christ gloriously 
because they name him every two minutes in their 
sermons. But that is not preaching Christ. To un- 
derstand, and enter into, and open his various offices 
and characters — the glories of his person and work — 
his relation to us, and ours to him, and to God the Fa- 
ther and God the Spirit through him — this is the 
knowledge of Christ. The divines of the present day 
are stunted dwarfs in this knowledge, compared with 
the great men of the last age. To know Jesus Christ 
for ourselves, is to make him a consolation, — delight, 

STRENGTH, — RIGHTEOUSNESS, — COMPANION, — and END. 

This is the aspect in which religion should be pre- 
sented to mankind : it is suited, above all other, to pro- 
duce effect ; and effect is our object. We must take 
human nature as we find human nature. We must 
take human nature in great cities, as we find human 
nature in great cities. We may say — " this or that 
is the aspect which ought to have most effect : we must 
illuminate the mind : we must enlist the reason : we 
must attack the conscience." We may do all this, 
and yet our comparative want of success in begetting 
and educating the sons of glory, may demonstrate to us 
that there is some more effective way ; and that sound 
sense and philosophy call on us to adopt that way, be- 
cause it is the most effective. 

Our system of preaching must meet mankind: they 
must find it possible to live in the bustle of the world, 
and yet serve God : after being worried and harrassed 
with its concerns, let them hear cheering truths con- 
cerning Christ's love and care and pity, which will ope- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 89 

i 

rate like an enchantment in dispelling the cares of life, 
and calming the anxious perturbations of conscience. 
Bring forward privileges and enforce duties, in their 
proper places and proportions. 

Let there be no extremes : yet I am arrived at this 
conviction :— Men, who lean toward the extreme of 
evangelical privileges in their ministry, do much more 
to the conversion of their hearers ; than they do, who 
lean toward the extreme of requirement. And my 
ow J n experience confirms my observation. I feel my- 
self repelled, if any thing chills, loads, or urges me. 
This is my nature, and I see it to be very much the na- 
ture of other men. But, let me hear, Son of man, 
thou hast played the harlot ivith many lovers ; yet 
return again to me saith the Lord — I am melted and 
subdued. 



ON A MINISTER'S FAMILIAR INTERCOURSE WITH HIS 
HEARERS. 

What passes, on these occasions, too often savors 
of this world. We become one among our hearers. 
They come to church on Sunday ; and we preach : the 
Aveek comes round again and its nonsense with it. 
Now if a minister were what he should be, the people 
would feel it. They would not attempt to introduce 
this silly, diurnal chat ! When we countenance this, it 
looks as though, " On the Sunday I am read] to do MY 
business; and, in the week, you ma\ do FOURS." This 
lowers the tone of what I say on the Sabbath. It forms 

a sad comment on my pre aching. 

ii 2 



90 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

I have traced, I think, some of the evil that lies at 
the root of this. We are more concerned to be thought 
gentlemen, than to be felt as ministers. Now being de- 
sirous to be thought a man who has kept good company, 
strikes at the root of that rough work — the bringing of 
God into his own world. It is hard and rough work to 
bring God into his own Avorld. To talk of a Creator, 
and Preserver, and Redeemer, is an outrage on the feel- 
ings of most companies. 

There is important truth in what Mr. Wesley said to 
his preachers, when rightly understood, however it may 
have been ridiculed : — " You have no more to do with 
being gentlemen, than dancing masters." The charac- 
ter of a minister is far beyond that of a mere gentleman. 
It takes a higher walk. He will, indeed, study to be 
a real gentleman : he will be the farthest possible from 
a rude man : he will not disdain to learn nor to practice 
the decencies of society : but he will sustain a still 
higher character. 

It is a snare to a minister when in company, to be 
drawn out to converse largely on the state of the funds, 
and on the news of the day. He should know the 
world, and what is doing in the world, and should give 
things of this nature their due place and proportion ; 
but if he can be drawn out to give twenty opinions on 
this or that subject of politics or literature, he is lower- 
ed in his tone. A man of sense feels something violent 
in the transition from such conversation to the Bible 
and to prayer. 

Dinner visits can seldom be rendered really profit- 
able to the mind. The company are so much occu- 
pied, that little good is to be done. A minister should 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 91 

shew his sense of the value of time : it is a sad thing 
when those around him begin to yawn. He must be a 
man of business. It is not sufficiently considered how 
great the sin of idleness is. We talk in the pulpit of 
the value of time, but we act too little on what we say. 

Let a minister who declines associating much with 
his hearers, satisfy himself that he has a good reason 
for doing so. If reproached for not visiting them so 
much as they wish, let him have a just reason to assign. 
A man who is at work for his family, may have as 
much love for them as the wife, though she is always 
with them. 

I fell into a mistake, when a young man, in thinking 
that I could talk with men of the world on their own 
ground, and could thus win them over to mine. I was 
fond of painting, and so talked with them on that sub- 
ject. This pleased them : but I did not consider that 
I gave a consequence to their pursuits Avhich does not 
belong to them ; whereas I ought to have endeavored to 
raise them above these, that they might engage in 
higher. I did not see this at the time : but I now see 
it to have been a great error. A wealthy man builds 
a fine house, and opens to himself fine prospects : he 
wants you to see them, for he is sick of them himself. 
They thus draw you into their schemes. A man has 
got ten thousand pounds : you congratulate him upon 
it, and that without any intimation of his danger or his 
responsibility. Now you may tell him in the pulpit 
that riches are nothing worth ; but you will tell him 
this in vain, while you tell him out of it that they are. 

Lord Chesterfield says, a man's character is degrad- 
ed when he is to UK had. A minister ought never 

TO BE HAD. 



92 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

ON A MINISTER'S ENCOURAGING ANIMADVERSION ON 
HIMSELF. 

It is a serious inquiry for a minister, how far he 

SHOULD ENCOURAGE ANIMADVERSION ON HIMSELF IN HIS 

hearers. He will encounter many ignorant and 
many censorious remarks, but he may gain much on 
the whole. 

He should lay down to himself a few principles. 

It is better that a minister smart than mistake. 
It is better that a traveller meet a surly, impertinent 
fellow to direct him in his way, than lose his way. A 
minister is so important in his office, that, whatever 
others think of it, he should regard this and this only 
as the transaction for eternity. But a man may be la- 
boring in the fire : he may be turning the world upside 
down, and yet be wrong, You say he must read his 
Bible. True ! but he must use all means. He must 
build his usefulness on this principle — if by any means. 
If the wheel hitches, let him, by any means, discover 
where it hitches. This principle is to be worked con- 
tinually in his mind. He must labor to keep it up to a 
fine, keen edge. Let him never believe that his view 
of himself is sufficient. A merchant sailing in quest of 
gain, is so intent on his object, that he will take a hint 
from any man. If we had all the meaning to which 
we pretend in our pursuits, we should feel and act like 
him. 

A minister must lay it down also as a principle, that 
he ivill never sufficiently understand his own pride 
and self-love ; and that confidence in his own sense, 
which cleaves closely to every man. He must con- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 93 

sider this as the general malady. Man is blind and 
obstinate — poor and proud. This silly creature, through 
ignorance of this principle, will not only not hear a vul- 
gar bearer who animadverts on him ; but he will 
scarcely listen to a superior man among his hearers. 
He attends to such a one, because it would be indecent 
not to attend. But he finds some excuse for himself 
in bis own bosom. He reverences what is said very 
little, if at all. He strokes and flatters himself, and 
makes up the matter very well in his own mind. 

A minister should consider how much more easily 
a weak man can read a wise man, than a wise 
man can read himself : and that for this reason — no 
man can see and hear himself. He it too much form- 
in his own habits — his family notions — his closet notions 
— to detect himself. He, who stands by and sees a 
game played, has vast advantages over the players. 
Besides, preachers err systematically — learnedly — sci- 
entifically. The simple hearer has an appeal to nature 
in his heart. He can often feel that his minister is 
wrong, when he is not able to set him right. Dr. Man- 
ton, no doubt, thought he had preached well, and as 
became him, before the Lord Mayor : but he felt him- 
self reproveda nd instructed, when a poor man pulled 
him by the sleeve, and told him he had understood no- 
thing of his sermon : there was an appeal in this poor 
man's breast to nature : nature could not make any 
thing of the Doctor's learning. When Apelles took 
his stand behind his picture, he was a wise man : and 
he was a wise man too, when he altered the shoe on the 
hint of the cobbler : the cobbler in his place, was to be 
heard. 



94 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

A minister should consider, too, that few will ven- 
ture to speak to a public man. It is a rare thing to 
hear a man say- — " Upon my word that thing, or your 
general manner, is defective or improper." If a wise 
man says this, he shows a regard, which the united 
stock of five hundred flatterers will not equal. I would 
set down half the blunders of ministers to their not list- 
ening to animadversion. I have heard it said — for the 
men, who would animadvert on us, talk among them- 
selves, if we refuse to let them talk to us — I have heard 
it said, " Why don't you talk to him?"—" Why don't 
you talk to him ! because he will not hear !" 

Let him consider, moreover, that this aversion from 
7 % eproof is not wise. This is a symptom of the dis- 
ease. Why should he want this hushing up of the 
disorder? This is a mark of a little mind. A great 
man can afford to lose : a little insignificant fellow is 
afraid of being snuffed out. 

A minister mistakes who should refuse to read any 
anonymous letters. He may, perhaps, see nothing in 
them the first time ; but, let him read them again and 
again. The writer raises his superstructure, probably, 
on a slight basis ; yet there is generally some sort of 
occasion. If he points out but a small error, yet that 
is worth detecting. 

In the present habits of men, it is so difficult to get 
them to tell the naked truth, that a minister should show 
a disposition to be corrected : he should show himself 
to be sensible of the want of it. He is not to encourage 
idle people : that could be productive of no possible 
good. 

These are some of the reasons for a minister's encour- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 95 

agement in a judicious manner, of animadversion on 
himself in his hearers. 

Sometimes, however, a man will come who appears 
to be an impertinent man, independently of what he has 
to remark — a man who is evidently disposed to be 
troublesome. Such a man came to me, with — " Sir, 
you said such a thing that seemed to lean to the doc- 
trine of universal redemption. Pray, Sir, may I speak 
a little with you on that subject ?" The manner of the 
man at once marked his character. He seemed to 
bring with him this kind of sentiment — " I'll go and set 
that man right. I'll call that man to account." It was a 
sort of democratic insolence of mind. Instead of 
answering him as he expected, 1 treated him as a child. 
I turned it into an occasion of preaching a sermon to 
him : — "Sir, do you come to instruct me, or to be instruct- 
ed ? Before we enter on a question which has exercised 
the greatest men, we want a preparedness of mind : we 
want a deep humility — a teachableness — a spirit of de- 
pendence — of which you seem to me to have but little." 

On the other hand, a man may come, quite as ignor- 
ant as the other, yet a simple character. I have dis- 
tressed him. Though he cannot, perhaps be made to 
understand what he inquires about — yet a minister 
should say to himself, " Have I puzzled him? He is 
wounded, and he comes for help." 

A minister should remember that he is not always to 
act and speak authoritatively. He sits on his friend's 
chair, and his friend says his things to him with frank- 
ness. They may want perhaps a little decorum ; but 
he should receive them in the most friendly ami good 
humoured way in the world. A thing strikes this man 



96 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

and that man : lie may depend on it, that it has some 
foundation. 

But there are persons, whom a minister should more 
than encourage to animadvert on him. He should em- 
ploy them. He should explain himself to them. He 
does not merely want an account of his sermon, but he 
employs them on business. To such sensible persons, 
he will say — " What serious judgment do you form of 
my preaching ? Do tell me what sort of a man I am." 

A minister has to treat with another sort of hearers 
— uncandid men, and yet men of capacity : a sort of 
men, who are now pleased, and then displeased. They 
spy a blot every where. He is likely to make a mis- 
take with regard to such men : — " What signifies the 
opinion of that man ? That man can never be pleased." 
True ! that man cannot be pleased ; but it does not fol- 
low that he tells you no truth. In treating with such a 
man he should say — His edge may be too keen for can- 
dor and sound judgment ; yet if it lays open to me 
what I could not otherwise see, let me improve by its 
keenness. What hurt can he do to me ? He may 
damp or irritate others, by talking thus to them ; but 
let me learn what is to be learnt from him." Such a 
man lifts a minister from his standing, where he settles 
down too easily and firmly. If I know a man to be of 
this class, I will distinguish: "This is the man : but 
that is myself!" If I would write a book to stand the 
fire, let me find out the severest censor. My friend is 
but half the man : there is a consentaneousness of senti- 
ment between us : we have fallen in together, till we 
scarcely know how to differ from each other. Let the 
man come who says — " Here I can discover you to 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 97 

yourself; and there!" The best hints are obtained 
from snarling people. Medicaments make the patient 
smart, but they heal. 

Yet a minister must not take this in the gross. He 
is not to invite rude men round his door. If he suffer 
his hearers to treat him irreverently, if he allow them to 
dispute with him on every occasion, he will bring ruin 
on the Church. The priest's lips must keep know- 
ledge. If a parent allow his children to question every 
thing, so that nothing is to be settled without a hundred 
proofs, they will soon despise their teacher, for they 
will think themselves able to teach him. The minister 
must have decided superiority and authority, or he will 
want one of the principal qualities of his ministry. This 
is not inconsistent with receiving hints. He may mis- 
take in some things : but he should mark the complex- 
ion of his congregation in deciding how far they are to 
be heard on his mistakes. If the people are heady, 
forward, confident in their own sense, they are never 
to be encouraged. They are gone too far. 



ON THE LIMITS WHICH A MINISTER SHOULD PUT TO THE 
INDULGENCE OF HIS CURIOSITY WITH REGARD TO 
PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS. 

An extreme is to be avoided. Some persons would 
condemn even rational curiosity. But the works of the 
Lord are great : sought out of all them that hare 
pleasure therein. I would not object, therefore, to 
visit the museum; or logo to see the rare natural 

productions often exhibited. I would enlarge, too, my 

i 



98 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

views of men and the world by frequenting the panor- 
amas of cities. And though I. would not run after 
every sight, yet I would use my liberty in selecting. 
But some are in an' opposite extreme. They are found 
every where. But he who sustains the character of a 
scribe of the kingdom of heaven, ought not to be 
found every where. The man who is seeking a heav- 
enly country, will show the spirit of one whose con- 
versation is there. 

There is something in religion, when rightly appre- 
hended, that is masculine and grand. It removes those 
little desires which are " the constant hectic of a fool." 

Every thing of the drama, and whatever is so dis- 
tinctly the course of this world, must be shunned. If 
a minister take one step into the world, his hearers 
will take two. Much may be learnt from the senti- 
ments of men of the world. If a man of this character 
who heard me preach, should meet me where he would 
say, " Why, I did not expect to see you here !" — then 
he ought not to have seen me there. 

There must be measure and proportion in our atten- 
tion to arts and sciences. These were the very idols 
of the heathen world : and what are they, who now 
follow them with an idolatrous eagerness but like 
children, who are charmed with the sparkling of a 
rocket, and yet see nothing in the sun ? 

Yet I would not indulge a cynical temper. If I go 
through a gentleman's gallery of pictures, I would say, 
" This is an admirable Claude !" but I would take oc- 
casion to drop a hint of somethinghigher and better, and 
to make it felt that I fell in with these things rather in- 
cidentally than purposely. But all this must be done 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 99 

with tenderness and humility . " I tread on the pride 
of Plato/' said Diogenes, as he walked over Plato's 
carpet : "Yes — and with more pride/' said Plato. 

" They pass best, over the world/ 5 said queen Eliza- 
beth, " who trip over it quickly : for it is but a bog. 
If we stop, we sink." 

I w r ould not make it my criterion — " Christ would 
not come hither!" J must take a lower standard in 
these things. I am a poor creature, and must be con- 
tented to learn in many places and by many scenes, 
which Christ need not to have frequented. 






ON THE MEANS OF PROMOTING A SPIRIT OF DEVOTION IN 
CONGREGATIONS. 

Let us ask, " What is man ?" He is a creature of 
feeling, as well as of intellect. We must interest him 
as we can. It is unphilosophical to depend on the mere 
statement of truth. No doubt there is a contrary error : 
for what is the end of exciting attention, if there is no- 
thing deserving attention ? 

It is of the first importance to put meaning in- 
to every part of the service. In either extreme, of ap- 
pealing to the understanding or the feelings, there may 
be no meaning : in a dull and lifeless preacher, there is 
no meaning ; and in one of a contrary character there 
may be nothing worthy of the name. 

There is, besides, too little attention, in many 
churches, to man as man. I would consult his conve- 
nience in all lawful points. If he could sil easier on 
on cushions, he should have cushions. I would not tell 



100 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

him to be warm in God's service, while I leave him to 
shiver with cold. No doors should creak : no win- 
dows should rattle. 

Music has an important effect on devotion. "W here- 
ever fantastical music enters, it betrays a corrupt prin- 
ciple. A congregation cannot enter into it ; or if it 
does, it cannot be a Christian congregation. Where- 
ever there is an attempt to set off the music in the ser- 
vice, and the attempt is apparent, it is the first step to- 
ward carnality. Though there is too little life in the 
style of music adopted among the Moravians, yet the 
simplicity of Christianity prevades their devotion. 

Order is important. Some persons by coming in 
when they please, propagate a loose habit of mind. 
For man is a sympathetic creature ; and what he sees 
others neglect, he is in danger of growing negligent in 
himself. If the reader goes through the service as 
though the great business for which they are assembled 
is not yet begun, the people will soon feel thus them- 
selves. 

The ministers should take occasion frequently to im- 
press on the people the importance of the work in 
which they are engaged. It is not enough to take it 
for granted that they feel this. We must take nothing 
for granted. Man needs to be reminded of every thing, 
for he soon forgets every thing. 

Monotony must be, above all things, avoided. The 
mind is vagrant : monotony cannot recal it. There 
may be continued vehemence, while the attention is not 
excited ; it is disturbance and noise : there is nothing 
to lead the mind into a useful train of thought or feel- 
ing. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 101 

There is an opposite error to vehemence. Men of 
sense and literature depress devotion by treating things 
abstractedly. Simplicity, with good sense, is of un- 
speakable value. Religion must not be rendered ab- 
stract and curious. If a curious remark presents itself, 
reserve it for another place. The hearer gets away 
from the bustle and business of the week : he comes 
trembling under his fears : he would mount upward in 
his spirit : but a curious etymological disquisition chills 
and repels him. 

In truth, we should be men of business in our congre- 
gations. We should endeavor both to excite and in- 
struct our herears. We should render the service an 
interesting affair in all its parts. We should rouse men : 
we should bind up the broken hearted : we should 
comfort the feeble minded : we should support the 
weak : we should become all things to all men, if by 
any ?neans we may save some. 



ON THE MARRIAGE OF CHRISTIAN MINISTERS. 

It seems to me, that many men do not give sufficient 
weight to our Lord's observations upon those who 
made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven s 
sake, nor to St. Paul's reasoning on the subject of mar- 
riage. I would only imply, that both our Lord and 
the apostle seem to establish it as a principle, that a 
single state when it can be chosen and is chosen for the 
sake of the gospel, is the superior stale. This, I tear, 
is too much forgotten ; and those men, who might ha\e 
received the saying, and have done more service to 

i 2 



102 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

the church of God by receiving it, have given it little or 
no weight in their deliberations. 

And yet it ought to be considered, that the very 
charaeter which would best fit men for living in a single 
state, would abstract them too much from the feelings 
and wants of their people. I am fully sensible that I 
should have been hardened against the distresses of my 
hearers, if I had not been reduced from my natural sto- 
icism by domestic sufferings. 

The cases. I allow, are extremely few, in which a 
man may do, on the whole, more service to the church, 
by imitating St. Paul, than by marrying : yet there are 
such cases ; and it behooves every minister seriously to 
consider himself and his situation, before lie determines 
on marriage. He should not regard this state as in- 
dispensably necessary to him, but should always re- 
member, that, caeteris paribus, he, who remains sin- 
gle is most worthy of honor. 

But. when it is proper that a minister should marry, 
and he has determined to do it, how few select such 
women as suit them high and holy character ! A minis- 
ter is like a man who has undertaken to traverse the 
world. He has not only fair and pleasant ground to 
travel over, but he must encounter deserts and marsh- 
es and mountains. The traveller wants a firm and 
steady stay. His wife should be above all tilings, a 
woman of faith and prayer — a woman, too, of a sound 
mind and of a tender heart — and one who will account 
it her glory to lay herself out in co-operating with her 
husband by meeting Ins wants and soothing his cares. 
She should be his unfailing resource, so far as he ought 
to seek this in the creature. Blessed is she, who is thus 
qualified and thus lives ! 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 103 

But after all, the married minister, if he would live 
devotedly, must move in a determined sphere. What- 
ever his wife may be, yet she is a woman — and if 
things are to go on well, they must have two separate 
worlds. There may, indeed, be cases, when a man 
with something of a soft and feminine cast about his 
mind, may be united to a woman of a mind so superior 
and cultivated, that he may choose to make it his plan 
that they shall move in the same world. In such rare 
cases it may be done with less inconvenience than in 
any other. But, even here, the highest end is sacri- 
ficed to feeling. Every man, whatever be his natural 
disposition, who would urge his powers to the highest 
end, must be a man of solitary studies. Some uxorious 
men of considerable minds have moved so much in the 
women's world, that reflection, disquisition, and the en- 
ergies of thought, have been ruined by the habit of in- 
dulging the lighter, softer, and more playful qualities. 
Such a man is indeed the idol of the female world ; but 
he would rather deserve to be so, if he stood upon his 
own ground while he attempted to meet their w r ants, in- 
stead of descending to mingle among them. 

God has put a difference between the sexes, but edu- 
cation and manners have put a still greater. They 
are designed to move in separate spheres, but occasion- 
ally to unite together in order to soften and relieve 
each other. To attempt any subversion of God's de- 
sign herein, is being wiser than He who made us ; and 
who has so established this affair that each sex has its 
separate and appropriate excellence — onlj to Ih 4 at- 
tained l>y pursuing it in the order of nature. Thought 



104 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

is or ought to be the characterizing feature of the man, 
and feeling that of the woman. 

Every man and woman in the world has an appropri- 
ate mind ; and that in proportion to their strength of 
thought and feeling. Each has a way of their own — 
a habit — a system — a Avorld — separated and solitary — 
in which no person on earth can have communion with 
them. Job says of God, He knoweth the way that I 
take ; and, when the Christian finds a want of compe- 
tency in his bosom friend to understand and meet his 
way, he turns with an especial nearness and familiarity 
of confidence to God, who knoweth it in all its connex- 
ions and associations, its peculiarities and its imperfec- 
tions. 

I may be thought to speak harshly of the female 
character ; but whatever persuasion I have of its in- 
tended distinction from that of man, I esteem a woman, 
who aims only to be what God designed her to be, as 
honorable as any man on earth. She stands not in the 
same order of excellence, but she is equally honorable. 

But women have made themselves, and weak men 
have contributed to make them, what God never de- 
signed them to be. Let any thinking man survey the 
female character as it now stands — often nervous, de- 
bilitated, and imaginative, and this super-induced 
chiefly by education and maimers— and he will find it 
impossible that any great vigor of mind can be pre- 
served, or any high intellectual pursuits cultivated, so 
far as this character stands in his way. 

" Doing as others do," is the prevalent principle of 
the present female character, to whatever absurd, pre- 
posterous, masculine, or even wicked lengths it may 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 105 

lead. This is so far as it avails with man or woman, 
the ruin, death, and grave of all that is noble, and vir- 
tuous, and praise -worthy. 

A studious man, whose time is chiefly spent at home, 
and especially a minister, ought not to meet the ima- 
ginary wants of his wife. The disorders of an imagin- 
ative mind are beyond calculation. He is not worthy 
the name of a husband, who will not with delight nurse 
his wife, with all possible tenderness aud love, through 
a real visitation, however long ; but he is ruined if he 
falls upon a woman of a sickly fancy. It is scarcely 
to be calculated what an influence the spirit of his wife 
will have on his own, and on all his ministerial affairs. 
If she comes not up to the full standard, she will so far 
impede him, derange him, unsanctify him. 

If there is such a thing as good in this world, it is in 
the ministerial office. The affairs of this employment 
are the greatest in the world. In prosecuting these 
with a right spirit, the minister keeps in motion a vast 
machine ; and, such are the incalculable consequences 
of his wife's character to him, that, if she assists him not • 
in urging forward the machine, she will hang as a dead 
weight upon its wheels. 

A woman may have a high taste : her natural temper 
may be peevish and fretful : she may have a delicate 
and fastidious mind : she may long for every thing she 
sees. It is not enough that she is, in reality, a pious 
woman. Her taste, her mind, her manners, must have 
a decorum and congruity to her husband's office and 
situation. She must bear to be crossed in her wishes 
for unsuitable objects : he will say, with firmness, " This 
shall not be. It is not enough, that it would gratify 



106 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

you : it is wrong. It is not enough that it is not fla- 
grantly sinful : it is improper, unsuitable to our char- 
acter and station.* It is not enough that money will 
buy it, and I have got money : it will be a culpable 
use of our talent. It is not enough that your friend 
possesses such a thing : we stand or fall to our own 
Master." 



ON VISITTNG DEATH-BEDS. 

I have found it, in many cases, a difficult thing to 
deal with a Death-Bed. We are called in to death- 
beds of various kinds : — 

The true pilgrim sends for us to set before him the 
food on which he has fed throughout the journey. He 
has a keen appetite. He wants strength and vigor for 
the last effort ; and, then, all is forever well ! He is 
gone home, and is at rest ! 

Another man sends for us because it is decent ; or his 
friends importune him ; or his conscience is alarmed : 
but lie is ignorant of sin and salvation : he is either in- 
different about both, or he has made up his mind in his 
own way : he wants the minister to confirm him in his 
own views, and smooth over the wound. I have seen 
such men mad with rage, w 7 hile I have been beating 
down their refuges of lies, and setting forth to them 
God's refuge. There is a wise and holy medium to be 
observed in treating such cases ; — u I am not come to 
daub you over with untempered mortar : I am not 

* Nee, tibi quid liceat, sed quid fecisse decebit, 
Occurrat. Claudian. J. P. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 107 

come to send you to the bar of God with a lie in your 
right-hand. But neither am I come to mortify you, to 
put you to unnecessary pain, to imbitter you, or to ex- 
asperate you." There is a kindness, affection, tender- 
ness, meekness, and patience, which a man's feelings 
and conscience will condemn him while he opposes ! I 
have found it a very effectual method to begin with my- 
self : it awakens attention, conciliates the mind, and 
insinuates conviction : — " Whatever others think of 
themselves, I stand condemned before God : my heart 
is so desperately wicked, that, if God had not showed 
me in his word a remedy in Jesus Christ, I should be 
in despair :' 1 can only tell you what I am, and what I 
have found. If you believe yourselves to be what God 
has told me I am and all men are, then I can tell you 
where and how to find mercy and eternal life : if you 
will not believe you are this sort of man, I have nothing 
to offer you. I know of nothing else for man beside 
that which God has showed me." My descriptions of 
my own fallen nature have excited perfect astonish- 
ment : sometimes my patients have seemed scarcely 
able to credit me, but I have found that God has fasten- 
ed, by this means, conviction on the conscience. In 
some cases, an indirect method of addressing the con- 
science may apparently be, in truth, the most direct ; 
but we are to use this method wisely and sparingly. 
It seems to me to be one of the characteristics of the 
day, in the religious world, to err on this subject. We 
have found out a circuitous way of exhibiting truth. 
The plain, direct, simple exhibition of it is often aban- 
doned, even where no circumstances justify and require 
a more insinuating manner. There is dexterity indeed. 



108 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

and address in this ; but too little of the simple declar- 
ation of the testimony of God, which St. Paul op- 
poses to excellency of speech or of wisdom, and to 
enticing words of mans wisdom. We have done 
very little when we have merely persuaded men to 
think as we do. 

But we have to deal with a worse death-bed charac- 
ter, than with the man who opposes the truth. Some 
men assent to every thing, which we propose. They 
will even anticipate us. And yet we see that they 
mean nothing. I have often felt when with such per- 
sons : " I would they could be brought to contradict 
and oppose ! That would lead to discussion. God 
might, peradventure, dash the stony heart in pieces. 
But this heart is like water. The impressions dies as 
fast as it is made/' I have sought for such views as 
might rouse and stir up opposition. I have tried to ir- 
ritate the torpid mind. But all in vain. I once visited 
a young clergyman of this character, who was seized 
with a dangerous illness at a coffee-house in town, whith- 
er some business had brought him : the first time I saw 
him, we conversed very closely together ; and, in the 
prospect of death, he seemed solicitous to prepare for 
it. But I could make no sort of impression upon him : 
all I could possibly say met his entire approbation, 
though I saw his heart felt no interest in it. When I 
visited Mm a second time, the fear of death was gone : 
and, with it, all solicitude about religion. He was still 
civil and grateful, but he tried to parry off the business 
on which he knew I came. " I will show you, Sir, 
some little things with which I have worn away the 
hours of my confinement and solitude." He brought 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 109 

out a quantity of pretty and tasty drawings. I was at 
loss how to express, with suitable force and delicacy, 
the high sense I felt of his indecorum and insipidity, 
and to leave a deep impression on his conscience — I 
rose, however, instantly — said my time was expired — 
wished him well, and withdrew. 

Sometimes we have a painful part to act with sincere 
men, who would have been carried too much into the 
world. I was called in to visit such a man. " I find 
no comfort," he said. " God veils his face from me. 
Every thing round me is dark and uncertain." I did not 
dare to act the flatterer. I said — " Let us look faith- 
fully into the state of things. I should have been sur- 
prised if you had not felt thus. I believe you to be 
sincere. Your state of feelings evinces your sincerity. 
Had I found you exulting in God, I should have con- 
cluded that you were either deceived or a deceiver: 
for, while God acts in his usual order, how could you 
expect to feel otherwise on the approach of death, than 
you do feel? You have driven hard after the world. 
Your spirit has been absorbed in its cares. Your sen- 
timent — your conversation have been in the spirit of the 
world. And have you any reason to expect the res- 
ponse of conscience, and the clear evidence which await 
the man who has walked and lived in the close friend- 
ship with God ! You know that what 1 say is true." 
His wife interrupted me, by assuring me that he had 
been an excellent man. "Silence!" said the dying 
penitent, " it is all true !" 

Soon after 1 came to St. John's I was called on to 
visit a dying lady, whom I saw man) times before ber 
death. 1 found that she had taken God lor her portion 



110 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

and rest. She approached liim with the penitence of a 
sinner grateful for his provision of mercy in Christ. She 
told me she had found religion in her Common Prayer 
Book. She blessed God that she had " always been 
kept steady to her church ; and that she had never fol- 
lowed the people called Methodists, who were seducing 
so many on all sides." I thought it would be unadvise- 
able to attempt the removal of prejudices, which, in her 
dying case, w T ere harmless, and which w^ould soon be 
removed by the light which w T ould beam in on her glo- 
rified soul. We had more interesting subjects of con- 
versation, from wliich this would have led us away. 
Some persons may tax her with a want of charity : but, 
alas ! I fear they are persons, who knowing more than 
she did of the doctrines of the gospel, have so little of 
its divine charity in their hearts, that, as they cannot 
allow for her prejudices, neither would they have been 
the last to stigmatize her as a dead formalist and a 
pharisee. God knoweth them that are his ; and they 
are often seen by him, w 7 here we see them not. Were 
a benighted inhabitant of Otaheite to feel the wretched- 
ness of his present life, and lift up his soul to the God he 
worshipped as a Supreme Being for happiness, no doubt 
God would hear such a prayer. 



MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS ON THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 

Every book really worth a minister's studying he 
ought, if possible, to have in his own library. I have 
used large libraries, but I soon left them. Time was 
frittered away : my mind was unconcentrated. Be- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. Ill 

sides, the habit which it begets of turning over a multi- 
tude of books is a pernicious habit. And the usual 
contents of such libraries are injurious to a spiritual 
man, whose business it is to transact with men's 
minds. They have a dry, cold, deadening effect. It 
may suit dead men to walk among the dead ; but send 
not a living man to be chilled among the ruins of Tad- 
mor in the wilderness ! 

Christianity is so great and surprisiug in its nature, 
that, in preaching it to others, I have no encouragement 
but the belief of a continued divine operation. It is 
no difficult thing to change a man's opinions. It is no 
difficult thing to attach a man to my person and notions. 
It is no difficult thing to convert a proud man to spirit- 
ual pride, or a passionate man to passionate zeal for 
some religious party. But, to bring a man to love God 
— to love the law of God, while it condemns him — to 
loath himself before God — to tread the earth under his 
feet — to hunger and thirst after God in Christ, and af- 
ter the mind that was in Christ — with man this is im- 
possible ! But God has said it shall be done : and 
bids me go forth and preach, that by me as his instru- 
ment, he may effect these great ends ; and therefore I 
go. — Yet I am obliged continually to call my mind 
back to my principles. I feel angry, perhaps, with a 
man, because he will not let me convert him : in spite 
of all 1 can say, he will still love the world. 



St. Paul admonishes Timothy to endure hardness 
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ* It sometimes falls 

to the lot of a minister to endure the hard labor of a 
Burse, in a greater measure than that of a soldier. He 



112 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

has to encounter the difficulties of a peculiar situation : 
he is the parent of a family of children, of various tem- 
pers, manners, habits, and prejudices : if he does not 
continually mortify himself, he will bear hardly upon 
some of his children. — He has, however to endure the 
hardness of calling his child, his friend, to an account : 
of being thought a severe, jealous, legal man. If a 
man will let matters take their chance, he may live 
smoothly and quietly enough ; but if he will stir among 
the servants, and sift things to the bottom, he must 
bear the consequences. He must account himself a 
Man of Strife. His language must be — " It is not 
enough that you feed me, or fill my pocket — there is 
something between me and thee." The most tender 
and delicate of his flock have their failings. His warm- 
est and most zealous supporters break down some 
where. A sun-shiny day breeds most reptiles. It is 
not enough, therefore, that the sun shines out in his 
church. It is not enough that numbers shout applause. 

A minister may be placed in a discouraging situation. 
He may not suit the popular taste. He may not be 
able to fall into the fashionable style. He may not 
play well on an instrument. Though an effective 
man, and a man of energy, he may be under a cloud. 
The door may be shut against him. Yet it is a dan- 
gerous thing for such a man to force open the door. 
He should rather say — " I have a lesson to learn here. 
If I teach the people nothing, perhaps they may teach 
me." The work of winter is to be done, as well as 
the work of summer. 

The hardness which I have to endure is this — Here 
are a number cf families which show me every kind 0/ 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 113 

regard. But I see that they are not right. They 
somehow so combine the things which they hear, with 
the things which they do, that I am afraid they will 
at last lie down in sorrow ! Here is my difficulty. I 
must meet them with gentleness ; but I must detect and 
uncover the evil. I shall want real kindness and com- 
mon honesty, if I do not. Ephraim hath gray hairs ; 
yet he hnoweth it not, Ephraim is a cake not turn- 
ed. But, if I tell him these things, he and I shall be- 
come two persons. He must, however, be so touched 
in private ; for he will not be touched in the pulpit. 
He will say I am not the man." 

A minister must keep under his body and bring it 
into subjection. A Newmarket groom will sweat him- 
self thin, that he may be fit for his office : Now they do 
it to obtain a corruptible crown ; but we, an incor- 
ruptible ! 



is come from college. He has a refined, accu- 
rate, sensible mind. Some of our friends wished to get 
him a station at Calcutta. They think him just adapted 
for that sphere. I differ widely in my view of the mat- 
ter. A new man, with his college accuracy about 
him, is not the man for the dissipated and fashionable 
court at Calcutta. Such a congregation will bid noth- 
ing for his acuteness and reasoning. — He, who is to 
talk to them with any effect, must have seen life and the 
world. He must be able to treat with them on their 
own ground. And he must be able to do it with the au- 
thority of a messenger from Cod, not with the arts and 
shifts of humau eloquence and reasonings. Dr. Patten 
said admirably well, in a sermon which I heard him 

k 2 



114 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 

preach at Oxford ; " Beware how you suffer the infidel 
to draw you upon metaphysical ground. If he get you 
there, he will have something to say. The evidences 
and the declarations of God's words are the weapons 
with which he must be combatted, and before which he 
must fall." 



London is very peculiar as a ministerial walk. Al- 
most all a minister can do, is by the pulpit and the pen. 
His hearers are so occupied in the world, that if he visit 
them, every minute perhaps brings in some interrup- 
tion. 



It is a serious question — Whether a minister ought 
to preach at all beyond his experience. — He is to 
stand forth as a witness — but a witness of what he 
knows, not of what he has been told. He must preach 
as he feels. If he feels not as he might and ought, he 
must pray for such feelings ; but, till he has them, ought 
he to pretend to them ? Going faster than the experi- 
ence led, has been the bane of many. Men have preach- 
ed in certain terms and phrases according to the tone 
given by others, while the thing has never been made 
out even to their conviction, much less in their experi- 
ence. 



It is a most important point of duty, in a minister to 
redeem time. A young minister has sometimes called 
an old one out of his study, only to ask him how he 
did: there is a tone to be observed toward such an idler: 
an intimation may be given, which he will understand, 
" This is not the house !" In order to redeem time, he 
must refuse to engage in secular affairs : No ?nan that 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 115 

warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this 
life, that he may please Him who hath chosen him 
to be a soldier. He must watch, too, against a dozing 
away of time : the clock- weight goes down slowly, yet 
it draws all the works with it. 



Owen remarks, that it is not sufficiently considered 
how much a minister's personal religion is exposed to 
danger from the very circumstance of religion being 
his profession and employment. He must go through 
the acts of religion : he must put on the appearances 
of religion : he must utter the language and display the 
feelings of religion. It requires double diligence and 
vigilance to maintain, under such circumstances, the 
spirit of religion. I have prayed : I have talked : I 
have preached : but now I should perish, after all, if I 
did not feed on the bread which I have broken to 
others. 



A minister must cultivate a tender spirit. If 
he does this so as to carry a savour and unction into his 
work, he will have far more weight than other men. 
This is the result of a devotional habit. To affect feel- 
ing is nauseous and soon detected ; but to feel, is the 
readiest way to the hearts of others. 



The leading defect in Christian ministers is want of 
a devotional habit. The church of Rome made 
much of this habit. The contests accompanying and 
following the Reformation, with something of an indis- 
criminate enmity against some of the good of that 
church as well as the (nil, combined to repress this spirit 



116 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

in the Protestant writings ; whereas the mind of Christ 
seems, in fact, to be the grand end of Christianity in its 
operation upon man. 



There is a manifest want of spiritual influence on 
the ministry of the present day. I feel it in my own 
case, and I see it in that of others. I am afraid that 
there is too much of a low, managing, contriving, man- 
ceuvering temper of mind among us. We are laying 
ourselves out, more than is expedient, to meet one man's 
taste, and another man's prejudices. The ministry is 
a grand and holy aifair, and it should find in us a sim- 
ple habit of spirit, and a holy but humble indifference 
to all consequences. 



A man of the world will bear to hear me read in the 
desk that awful passage : Wide is the gate, and broad 
is the way that leadcth to destruction ; and many 
there be ivhich go in thereat : Because strait is the 
gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto 
life ; and few there be that find it. Nay, he will ap- 
prove it : — " The minister is in the desk : he is reading 
the lesson of the day." But this very man — were I to 
go home with him, and tell him in his parlour that most 
of those whom he knows and loves are going on in that 
road to eternal destruction — this very man would brand 
the sentiment as harsh and uncharitable. Though ut- 
tered by Christ himself, it is a declaration as fanatical 
and uncandid, in the judgment of the world, as could 
be put together in language. 



Many hearers cannot enter into the reasons of the 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 117 

Cross. They adopt what I tliink is Butler's grand de- 
fect on this subject. He speaks of the Cross as au ap- 
pointment of God, and therefore to be submitted to : 
but God has said much in his word of the reasons of 
this appointment : that he might be just, and the jus- 
tifier of him that believeth. 



Several things are required, to enable a minister to 
attain a proper variety in his manner. He must be in 
continual practice : if I were to preach but once a 
month, I should lose the ability of preaching. He 
must know that his hearers are attached to him — that 
they will grant him indulgences and liberties. He must, 
in some measure, feel himself above his congregation. 
The presence of a certain brother chills me : because I 
feel that I can talk on no one subject in the pulpit, with 
which he is not far better acquainted than I am. 



The first duty of a minister, is, To call on his hear- 
ers to turn to the Lord, " We have much to speak 
to you upon. We have many duties to urge on you. 
We have much instruction to give you — but all will be 
thrown away, till you have turned to the Lord." Let 
me illustrate this by a familiar comparison. You see 
your child sinking in the water : his education lies near 
your heart : you are anxious to train him up so, that he 
may occupy well the post assigned to him in life. But, 
when you see him drowning, the first thoughts are — not 
how you may educate him, but how you may save him. 
Restore him to life, and then call that life into action. 



A disinterested regard to truth should be, what it 



118 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

veiy seldom is, the most striking character in a Chris- 
tian minister. His purpose should be to make prose- 
lytes to. truth, and not to any tiling which may be par- 
ticular in his views of it. " Read my books/' says one. 
— "No!" says another, "read mine." And thus re- 
ligion is taken up by piece-meal ; and the mind is di- 
verted from its true nature by false associations. If the 
teacher whom this man has chosen for his oracle, dis- 
grace religion by irreligious conduct, he stumbles. He 
stumbles, because he has not been fixed upon the sole 
and immoveable basis of the religion of the Bible. 
The mind, w T ell instructed in the Scriptures, can bear 
to see even its spiritual father make shipwreck of the 
faith and scandalize the gospel ; but will remain itself 
unmoved. The man is in possession of a treasure, 
which, if others are foolish enough to abandon, yet they 
cannot detract any thing from the value attached to it 
in his esteem. ^ 



That a minister may learn how to magnify his of- 
fice, let him study the character, the spirit, and the his- 
tory of St. Paul. His life and death were one magni- 
fying of his office : mark his object — to win souls ! — to 
execute the will of God ! As the man rises in his own 
esteem his office sinks ; but as the office rises in his view, 
the man falls. He must be in constant hostility with 
himself, if he would magnify his office. He must hold 
himself in readiness to make sacrifices, when called to 
do so : he will not barter his office, like Balaam ; but 
will refuse to sell his service, like Michaiah. Like Ez- 
ra and Nehemiah, he will refuse to come down from the 
great work which he has to do. He may be calumnia- 



REMAINS OF MR. CKCIL. 119 

ted ; but he will avoid hasty vindications of his charac- 
ter : it does not appear that Elisha sent after Naaman 
to vindicate himself from the falsehoods of Gehazi : 
there appears to me much true dignity in this conduct : 
I fear I should have wanted patience to act thus. 



Some young ministers have been greatly injured, by 
taking up their creed from a sort of second or third rate 
writers. Toplady, perhaps, has said that he has found 
his preaching most successful, when it has turned on 
the grand doctrines of Calvinism. A young man ad- 
mires Toplady, and adopts the same notion concerning 
his own ministry. But let him turn to a master on the 
subject. He will find such a man as Traill handling 
the sovereignty of God, and such high points of doctrine 
with a holy and heavenly sweetness; which, while it 
renders it almost impossible not to receive his senti- 
ments, leaves nothing on the mind but a religious savor. 



The grand aim of a minister must be the exhibition 
of gospel truth. Statesman may make the greatest 
blunders in the world, but that is not his affair. Like 
a King's messenger, he must not stop to take care of 
a person fallen down: if he can render any kindness 
consistently with his duty, he will do it ; if not, he will 
prefer his office. 

Our method of preaching is not that by which Chris- 
tianity was propagated: yet the genius of Christianity 
is not changed. There was nothing in the primitive 
method set or formal. The primitive bishop stood up, 
and read the gospel, or some other portion of Scrip- 



120 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

ture, and pressed on the hearers, with great earnestness 
and affection, a few plain and forcible truths evidently 
resulting from that portion of the Divine Word : we 
take a text, and make an oration. Edification was 
then the object of both speaker and hearers ; and, while 
this continues to be the object, no better method can be 
found. A parable, or history, or passage of Scripture, 
thus illustrated and enforced, is the best method of in- 
troducing truth to any people who are ignorant of it, 
and of setting it home with power on those who know 
it ; and not formal, doctrinal, argumentative discourses. 
Truth and simplicity are the soul of an efficacious 
ministry. 

The Puritans were still farther removed from the 
primitive method of preaching : they would preach fif- 
teen or sixteen sermons on a text. A primitive bishop 
would have been shocked with one of our sermons ; 
and, such is our taste, we should be shocked with his. 
They brought forward Scripture : we bring forward 
our statements. They directed all their observations 
to throw light on Scripture : we quote Scripture to 
throw light on our observations. More faith and more 
grace would make us better preachers ; for out of the 
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Chrys- 
ostoni's was the right method. Leighton's Lectures on 
Peter approach very near to this method. 

In acting on matter, the art of man is mighty. The 
steam-engine is a mighty machine. But, in religion, 
the art of man is mere feebleness. The armor of Saul 
is armor in the camp of the Israelites, or in the camp of 
the Philistines — but we want the sling and the stone. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 121 

I honor Metaphysicians, Logicians, Critics, and Histo- 
rians — in their places. Look at facts. Men, who lay 
out their strength in statements, preach churches emp- 
ty. Few men have a wisdom so large, as to see that 
the way which they cannot attain may yet be the best 
way I dare not tell most academical, logical, frigid 
men how little I account of their opinion, concerning the 
true method of preaching to the popular ear. I hear 
them talk, as utterly incompetent judges. Such men 
would have said St. Paul was fit only for the tabernacle. 
What he would have said they were fit for, I cannot 
tell. They are often great men — first-rate men — une- 
qualled men — in their class and sphere : but it is not 
their sphere to manage the world. 



If a minister could work miracles, he would do little 
more than interest the curiosity of men. — " 1 want to 
eat, and I want to drink, and I do it : I get on with diffi- 
culty enough, as things are ; and you talk about treat- 
ing with heaven ! I know nothing of the matter, and I 
want no such thing" — This is the language of man's 
heart. A future thing ! An indefinitely future 
thing ! No ! if a man could even authoritatively de- 
clare, that the day of judgment would be this day sev- 
en years, he would have little influence on mankind. 
Very few would be driven from the play-house — very 
few from the gaining table — very few from the brothel. 
The din on 'Change would be very little diminished. 
1 frequently look back on the curly periods of my life, 
and imagine myself treating with such a character as 1 
know I then was. I say to myself, " What mm can I 

L 



122 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

possibly say that will affect and interest that young fel- 

of eighteen ?" 

Some Christian ministers fail in their effect on their 
hearers,, by not entering as philosophers into the state 
of human nature. They do not consider how low the 
patient is reduced — that he is to be treated more as a 
child — that he is to have milk administered to him, in- 
stead of strong meat. They set themselves to plant 
principles and prove points, when they should labor to 
interest the heart. But, after all, men will carry their 
natural character into their ministry. If a man has a 
dry, logical, scholastic turn of mind, we shall rarely 
find him an interesting preacher. One in a thousand 
may meet him, but not more. 



The Christian will sometimes be brought to walk in 
a solitary path. God seems to cut away his props, that 
he may reduce him to himself. His religion is to be 
felt as a personal, particular, appropriate possession. 
He is to feel, that, as there is but one Jehovah to bless, 
so there seems to him as though there w r ere but one pen- 
itent in the universe to be blessed by Him. Mary Mag- 
dalene at the sepulchre was brought to this state. She 
might have said, " I know not where Peter is : he is gone 
away — perhaps into the world — perhaps to weep over 
his fall. I know not where John is. What are the feel- 
ings and states of my brethren, I know not. I am left 
here alone. No one accompanies and strengthens me. 
But if none other will seek my Lord, yet will I seek 
him !" There is a commanding energy in religious sym- 
pathy. A minister, for example, while his preaching 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 123 

seems effective, and life and feeling show themselves 
around him, moves on with ease and pleasure. Bat there 
is much of the man here. If God change the scene — if 
discouragements meet him — if he seem to be laid by, in 
any measure, as an instrument — if the love of his hear- 
ers to his person and ministry decay — this is a severe 
trial ; yet most of us need this trial, that we may be re- 
duced simply to God, and may feel that the whole af- 
fair is between him and ourselves. A dead fish will swim 
with the stream, whatever be its direction : But a living 
one will not only resist the stream ; but, if it chooses, it 
can swim against it. The soul that lives from God, will 
seek God, and follow God — more easily and pleasantly, 
indeed, if the stream flow toward the point whither God 
leads ; but still, it will follow God as its sole rest and 
centre, though the stream of men and opinions would 
hurry it away from him. 

Gravity is, doubtless, obligatory on ministers. The 
apostle connects it with simplicity. Yet it must be na- 
tural — not affected. Some men give every thing in an 
oracular style : this looks like affectation, and will dis- 
gust others : they will attribute it to religion : but this 
is not a sanctified gravity. Other men are always dis- 
posed to levity : not that a man of original fancy is to 
be condemned for thinking in his own way : but the 
minister must consider that he is a man of a consecrated 
character : if it should not be difficult to himself to 
make transitions from levity to gravity, it will be diffi- 
cult to carry others with him therein. Who has not 
felt, if God brings him into a trying situation, in which 
1»«- gees that it is an awful thing to suffer or to die, that 



124 REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 

gravity is then natural ? every tiling else is offensive ! 
That, too, is evil, which lets down the tone of a com- 
pany : when a minister loses his gravity, the company 
will take liberties with him. Yet, with a right principle, 
we must not play the fool. Gravity must be natural 
and simple. There must be urbanity and tenderness 
in it. A man must not formalize on every thing. He 
who formalizes on every thing, is a fool ; and a grave 
fool is perhaps more injurious than a light fool. 



We are called to build a spiritual house. One work- 
man is not to busy himself in telling another his duty. 
We are placed in different circumstances, with various 
talents : and each is called to do what he can. Two 
men, equally accepted of God, may be exceedingly 
distinct in the account which they will give of their 
employ. 



A regular clergyman can do no more in the dis- 
charge of his duty, than our church requires of him. 
He may fall far short of her requirements ; but he can- 
not exceed, by the most devoted life, the duties which 
he has prescribed. What man on earth is so pernici- 
ous a drone as an idle clergyman ! — a man, engaged 
in the most serious profession in the world : who rises 
to eat, and drink, and lounge, and trifle : and goes to 
bed ; and then goes to bed again, to do the same ! Our 
office is the most laborious in the world. The mind 
must be always on the stretch, to acquire wisdom and 
grace, and to communicate them to all who come near. 
It is well, indeed, when a clergyman of genius and 
learning devotes himself to the publication of classics 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 125 

and works of literature, if lie cannot be prevailed onto 
turn his genius and learning to a more important end. 
Enter into this kind of society, what do you hear ? — 
"Have you seen the new edition of Sophocles?" — 
" No ! is a new edition of Sophocles undertaken ?" — 
and this makes up the conversation, and these are the 
ends of men who, by profession, should win souls ! I 
received a most useful hint from Dr. Bacon, then Father 
of the University, when I was at College. I used fre- 
quently to visit him at his Living near Oxford : he would 
say to me, " What are you doing ? What are your 
studies ?" — " I am reading so and so." — " You are quite 
wrong. When I w 7 as young I could turn any piece of 
Hebrew into Greek verse with ease. But, when I came 
into this parish, and had to teach ignorant people, I 
was wholly at a loss : I had no furniture. They 
thought me a great man, but that was their ignorance ; 
for I knew as little as they did, of what it was most im- 
portant for them to know. Study chiefly what you can 
turn to good account in your future life." And yet this 
wise man had not just views of serious religion; he 
was one of those who are for reforming the parish — 
making the maids industrious, and the men sober and 
honest — but when I ventured to ask, " Sir, must not 
all this be effected by the infusion of a divine principle 
into the mind ? a union of the soul with the great head 
of influence ?" — "No more of that — no more of that, 1 
pray r 



\ wist: minister stands between practical Atheism 
l 2 



and religious enthusiasm. 



126 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

A sermon that has more head infused into it than 
heart, will not come home with efficacy to the hearers. 
" You must do so and so : such and such consequences 
will follow if you do not : such and such advantages 
will result from doing it :" — this is cold, dead and spir- 
itless, when it stands alone ; or even when it is most 
prominent. Let the preacher's head be stored with 
wisdom ; but, above all, let his heart so feel his subject, 
that he may infuse life and interest into it, by speaking 
like one who actually possesses and feels what he says. 

Faith is the master-spring of a minister. " Hell is 
before me, and thousands of souls shut up there in ever- 
lasting agonies — Jesus Christ stands forth to save men 
from rushing into this bottomless abyss — He sends me 
to proclaim his ability and his love : I want no fourth 
idea ! — every fourth idea is contemptible ! every fourth 
idea is a grand impertinence !" 



The meanness of the earthen vessel, which conveys to 
others the Gospel treasure, takes nothing from the value 
of the treasure. A dying hand may sign a deed of gift 
of incalculable value. A shepherd's boy may point out 
the way to a philosopher. A beggar may be the bear- 
er of an invaluable present. 

A writer of sermons has often no idea how many 
words he uses,. to which the common people affix either 
no meaning, or a false one. He speaks, perhaps, of 
" relation to God ;" but the people, who hear him, affix 
no other idea to the word, than that of father, or broth- 
er, or relative. The preacher must converse with the 
people, that he may acquire their words and phrases. 






REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 127 



It sometimes pleases God to disqualify ministers for 
their work, before he takes them to their reward. 
Where he gives them wisdom to perceive this., and 
grace to acquiesce in the dispensation — such a close of 
an honorable life, where the desire to be publicly use- 
ful survives the power, is a loud amen to all former 
labors. 



ON INFIDELITY AND POPERY. 

Infidel writings are ultimately productive of little or 
no danger to the church of God. Nay we are less at 
a loss in judging of the wisdom of Providence in permit- 
ting them, than we are in judging of many other of its 
designs. They may shake the simple, humble, spirit- 
ual mind but they are in the end, the means of enlighten- 
ing and settling it. 

There are but two sorts of people in the world. Some 
walk by the light of the Lord, and all others lie in 
the wicked one in darkness and in the shadow oj 
death. Where there is not an enlightened, simple, 
humble, spiritual mind, notions and opinions are of little 
consequence. The impudent and refuted misrepresen- 
tations of infidels may turn a dark mind to some other 
notions and way of thinking ; but it is in the dark still. 
Till a man sees by the light of the Lord, every change 
of opinions is only putting a new dress on a dead car- 
case, and calling it alive. 

The grace of God must give simplicity. Wherever 
that is, il is a security against dangerous error ; wher- 
ever it is not, erroneous opinions may perhaps less pi 



128 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

dispose the mind against the truth of God in its lively 
power on the soul, than true notions destitute of all life 
and influence do. 

Yet the writings of infidels must be read with caution 
and fear. There are cold, intellectual, speculative, 
malignant foes to Christianity. I dare not tamper with 
such, when I am in my right mind. T have received 
serious injury, for a time, even w r hen my duty has call- 
ed me to read what they have to say. The daring im- 
piety of Belsham's answer to Wilberforce ruffled the 
calm of my spirits. I read it over while at Bath, in the 
autumn of 1798. I waked in pain, about two o'clock 
in the moming. I tried to cheer myself by an exercise 
of faith on Jesus Christ. I lifted up my heart to him, as 
sympathizing with me and engaged to support me. 
Many .times have I thus obtained quiet and repose : but 
now I could lay no hold on him : I had given the ene- 
my an advantage over me : my habit had imbibed pois- 
on : my nerves trembled ! my strength was gone ! — 
" Jesus Christ sympathize with you, and relieve you ! 
It is all enthusiasm ! It is idolatry ! Jesus Christ has 
preached his sermons, and done his duty, and is go;ie 
to heaven ! And there he is, as other good men are ! 
Address your prayers to the Supreme Being V? — I ob- 
tain relief in such cases, by dismissing from my thoughts 
all that enemies or friends can say. I will have nothing 
to do with Belsham or with Wilberforce, I come to 
Christ himself. I hear what he says. I turn over the 
gospels. I read his conversations. I dwell especially 
on his farewell discourse with his disciples in St. John's 
gospel. If there be meaning in words, and if Christ 
were not a deceiver or deceived, the reality of the 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 129 

Christian's life, in him and from him by faith, is written 
there as with a sun-beam. 

This temptation besets me to this day, and I know 
not that I have any other which is so particular in its 
attacks upon me. I am sometimes restless in bed ; and, 
when I find myself so, I generally think that the paren- 
thesis cannot be so well employed as in prayer. While 
my mind is thus ascending to Christ and communing 
with him, it often comes across me — " What a fool art 
thou, to imagine these mental effusions can be known 
to any other Being ! what a senseless enthusiast, to im- 
agine that the man who was nailed to a cross can have 
any knowledge of these secrets of thy soul !" On one 
of these occasions it struck me with great and com- 
manding evidence — " Why might not St. John, in the 
Isle of Patmos — imprisoned perhaps in a cave — why 
might not he have said so ? Why might not he have 
doubted whether Christ the crucified could have knowl- 
edge of his feelings, when he was in the Spirit on the 
Lord's day ? He had no doubt communion with Christ 
in the Spirit, before he had those palpable evidences 
of his presence which immediately followed." 



In the permission of certain bold infidel characters 
and writings, we may discern plain evidences of that 
awful system of judicial government, with which God 
has been pleased to rule the world. Where there is a 
moral indisposition, where men are inclined to be de- 
ceived, where they are waiting as it were lor a leader — 
there he sends such men and such writings, as harden 
them in their impiety : while a teachable and humble 
mind will discern the true character of such men or 
writings, and escape the danger. 



130 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

I can conceive a character much more pernicious in 
its influence, than the daring and impudent infidel. A 
man — in the estimation of all the world modest, ami- 
able, benevolent — who should, with deep concern, la- 
ment the obligation under which lie feels himself to de- 
part from the religion of Europe, the religion of his 
country, the religion of his family ; and should profess 
his unfeigned desire to find this religion true, but that 
he cannot possibly bring his mind to believe it, and that 
for such and .such reasons : when he should thus intro- 
duce all the strongest points that can be urged on the 
subject. 

But God governs the world. It is not in his design 
to permit such men to arise. The infidel has always had 
something about him, which has ascertained his obli- 
quity to the eye, that has not been dimmed by the 
moral indisposition of the heart. 



The low and scurrilous writers against Revelation 
cany their own condemnation with them. They are 
like an ill-looking fellow, who comes into a Court of 
Justice to give evidence ; but carries the aspect, on the 
first glance, of a town bully, ready to swear whatever 
shall be suggested to him. 



Blrke has painted the spirit of democracy to the life. 
I have fallen in with some democrats, who knew no- 
thing of me. They have been subjects of great curio- 
sity, when I could forget the horrid display of sin that 
was before me. I saw a malignant eye — a ferocity — 
an intensity of mind on their point. Viewed in its 
temper and tendencies, Jacobinism is Devi'.ism — Beli- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 131 

alism. It takes the yoke of God and man — puts it on 
the ground — and stamps on it. Every man is called 
out into exertion against it. It is an inveterate, malig- 
nant, blaspheming, atheistical, fierce spirit. It seems 
a toss up with these men, whether Satan himself shall 
govern the world. Our Master has commanded us not 
to cast pearls before swine. I am vastly delighted 
with character — true and original character : but this 
is an awful and affecting display of it. 



The church has endured a pagan and a papal per- 
secution. There remains for her an infidel persecu- 
tion — general, bitter, purifying, cementing. 



It is, perhaps, impossible, in the very nature of 
things, that such another scheme as Popery could be 
invented. It is, in truth, the mystery of iniquity ; 
that it should be able to work itself into the simple, 
grand, sublime, holy institution of Christianity, and so 
to interweave its abominations with the truth, as to oc- 
cupy the strongest passions of the soul, and to control 
the strongest understandings ! While Pascal can 
speak of Popery as he does, its influence over the mass 
of the people can excite no surprise. Those two mas- 
ter principles — That we must believe as the church or- 
dains — and, That there is no salvation out of this 
church — oppose, in the ignorance and fear which they 
beget, an almost insuperable barrier against the truth. 



I have not such expectations of a millennium as 
many entertain: yet J believe that the figures and ex- 
pressions of prophecy have never received their ac- 



132 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 

complishment. They are too grand and ample, to have 
been fulfilled by any state, which the church has hither- 
seen. Christianity has yet had no face suitable to its 
dignity. It has savored hitherto too much of man — of 
his institutions — of his prejudices — of his follies — of his 
sin. It must be drawn out — depicted — exhibited — de- 
monstrated to the world. Its chief enemies have been 
the men by whom, under the professions of Hail, Mas- 
ter ! it has been distorted, abused, and vilified. 

Popery was the master-piece of Satan. I believe 
him utterly incapable of such another contrivance. It 
was a systematic and infallible plan, for forming mana- 
cles and mufflers for the human mind. It was a well 
laid design to render Christianity contemptible,, by the 
abuse of its principles and its institutions. It was 
formed to overwhelm — to enchant — to sit as the great 
ivhore, making the earth drunk with her fornica- 
tions. 

The infidel conspiracy approaches nearest to Popery. 
But infidelity is a suicide. It dies by its own maligni- 
ty. It is known and read of all men. No man was ev- 
er injured essentially by it, who was fortified with a 
small portion of the genuine spirit of Christianity — its 
contrition and its docility. Nor is it one in its efforts : 
its end is one ; but its means are disjointed, various, 
and often clashing. Popery debases and alloys Chris- 
tianity ; but infidelity is a furnace, wherein it is purifi- 
ed and refined. The injuries done to it by Popery, will 
be repaired by the very attacks of infidelity. 

In the mean time, Christianity wears an enchanting 
form to all, who can penetrate through the mists thrown 
around it by its false friends and its avowed foes. The 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 133 

exiled French Priest raises the pity and indignation of 
all Christians, while he describes the infernal plots of 
the infidel conspirators against Christianity, and shews 
them in successful operation against his church.* We 
seem, for a while, to forget her errors : and we view 
her, for the moment, only so far as she possesses Chris- 
tianity in common with ourselves. But when he char- 
ges the origin of this infidel conspiracy on the princi- 
ples asserted by the Waldenses or the church of Gene- 
va, the enchantment dissolves. We see that he is un- 
der the influence of a sophism : by which, having im- 
posed upon himself, he would impose upon others. 
With him, Christianity and his church mean one and 
the same thing. A separation from his church is a se- 
paration from Christianity ; and proceeds on principles 
which lead necessarily, if pursued to their issues, to 
every abomination of infidelity. But let him know that 
the church of Geneva protested against the false friend 
of Christianity ; and that, if the avowed enemy of 
Christianity had then elevated himself, she would have 
protested with equal zeal against him. Let him know, 
that, if his church had listened to the voice of the Re- 
former, the enemy of Christianity would have wanted 
ground for footing to his attacks. The Papist false U 
charges the Reformer as the father of infidelity : the 
infidel maliciously confounds Popery and Christianity : 
but the true Christian is as far from the licentiousness 
of the infidel, as he is from the corruption of the Papist. 
I am not inclined to view things in a gloomy aspect. 
Christianity must undergo a renovation. If God lias 
sent his Son, and has declared that he will exalt him on 

•Alluding to Barruel's Memoirs of Jacobinism, J. P. 

M 



134 REMAINS OF MR, CECIL. 

his throne — the earth and all that it inherits are con- 
temptible in the view of such a plan ! If this be God's 
design — proceed it does, and proceed it will. Chris- 
tianity is such a holy and spiritual affair, that perhaps 
all human institutions are to be destroyed to make way 
for it. Men may fashion things as they will ; but, if 
there is no effusion of the Spirit of God on their institu- 
tions, they will remain barren and lifeless. Many 
Christians appear to have forgotten this. 



ON A CHRISTIAN'S DUTY IN THESE EVENTFUL TIMES. 

Ours is a period of no common kind. The path of 
duty to a Christian is now unusually difficult. It seems 
to me, however, to be comprehended in two words — Be 
quiet and useful. The precept is short ; but the ap- 
plication of it requires much grace and wisdom. Take 
not a single step out of a quiet obscurity, to which you 
are not compelled by a sense of utility. 

Two parties have divided the world. 

The jacobins are desperadoes : — the earth's torment 
and plague. Bishop Horsley said well of them, lately 
from the pulpit — " These are they who have poisoned 
Watts's Hymns for children. These are they who are 
making efforts to contaminate every means of access to 
the public mind. And what is their aim ? — What are 
their pretensions ? — That they will have neither Lord 
nor King over them. But, verily, one is their King : — 
whose name, in the Hebrew tongue, is Abaddon ; but, 
in the Greek tongue, he is called Apollyon ; and in 
plain English — ( The Devil. 9 My soul, come not thou 
near the tents of these wicked men ? 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 135 

" But the antijacobins ?" Their project, as a body, 
leaves God out of the question. Their proposal is un- 
holy. I cannot be insensible to the security, order, 
and liberty, with which these kingdoms are favored 
above all other nations ; but I cannot go forth with 
these men, as one of their party. I cannot throw up 
my hat, and shout " Huzza !" Wo to the world, if even 
they prevail ! 

The world is a lying, empty pageant ; and these 
men are ensnared with the show. My part in it, as a 
Christian, is to act with simplicity as the servant of 
God. What does God bid me do ? What, in this 
minute of time, which will be gone and carry me with 
it into eternity — what is my path of duty ? While ene- 
mies blaspheme, and friends are beguiled, let me stand 
on my watch-tower with the Prophet, listening what 
the Lord Hod shall say to me. In any scheme of 
man I dare not be drunken. We, ivho are of the day, 
must be sober. Churchman or Dissenter, if I am a 
true Christian, I shall talk thus to my connexions. The 
sentment of the multitude is ensnaring : but the multi- 
tude is generally wrong. I must beware of the conta- 
gion. Not that I am to push myself into consequence. 
The matter is between me and my God — Not one step 
out of a holy quiet and obscurity, but in order to utility. 

Yet we must be active and bold, whenever duty calls 
us to be so. My own conduct, with respect to the re- 
ligious world, is too much formed on my feelings. I 
see it i:i what 1 deem a lamentable stale ; but 1 seem 
to say, "Well! go on talking, and mistaking, and 
making a noise : only make not a noise here :" and 
then I retire into my closet, and shrink within myself. 



136 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

But had I more faith, and simplicity, and love, and self- 
denial, I might do all I do in my present sphere, but I 
should throw myself in the midst of them, and entreat 
and argue and remonstrate . 

But then such a man must give himself up as a sa- 
crifice. He would be misrepresented and calumniated 
from many quarters. But he would make up his ac- 
count for such treatment. How would St. Paul have 
acted in such a state of the church ? Would he not 
have displayed that warm spirit, which made him say, 
O foolish Galatians ! who hath bewitched you? and 
that holy self-denial, which dictated, I will very glad- 
ly spend and be spent for you, though the more ex- 
ceedingly I love you, the less I be loved ? 

It is not to be calculated, how much a single man 
may effect, who throws his whole powers into a 
thing. Who, for instance can estimate the influence 
of Yoltatre ? He shed an influence of a peculiar sort 
over Europe. His powers were those of a gay buf- 
foon — far different from those of Hume, and others of 
his class — but he threw himself wholly into them. It is 
true these men meet the wickedness or the imbecility of 
the human mind : but there are many right hearted peo- 
ple, who hang a long time on the side of pure, silent, 
simple religion. Let a man who sees things as I do, 
i brow himself out with all his powers, to rescue and 
k » 5 uide such persons. 



ON FORTIFYING YOUTH AGAINST INFIDEL PRINCIPLES. 

I never gathered from infidel writers, when an 
avowed infidel myself, any solid difficulties, which were 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 137 

not brought to my mind by a very young child of my 
own. " Why was sin permitted ?" — " What an insig- 
nificant world is this to be redeemed by the incarnation 
and death of the Son of God !" — " Who can believe 
that so few will be saved ?" — Objections of this kind, 
in the mind of reasoning young persons, prove to me 
that they are the growth of fallen nature. 

The nurse of infidelity is sensuality. Youth are sen- 
sual. The Bible stands in their way. It prohibits the 
indulgence of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
and the pride of life. But the young mind loves these 
things ; and,, therefore, it hates the Bible which prohi- 
bits them. It is prepared to say, " If any man will 
bring me arguments against the Bible, I will thank him : 
if not, I will invent them." 

As to infidel arguments, there is no weight in them- 
They are jejune and refuted. Infidels are not them- 
selves convinced by them. 

In combating this evil in youth, we must recollect the 
proverb, that " a man may bring his horse to the water, 
but cannot make him drink." The minds of the young 
are pre-occupied. They will not listen. Yet a crisis 
may come. They will stop and bethink themselves. 

One promising method with them, is, to appeal to 
facts. What sort of men are infidels? They are 
loose, fierce, overbearing men. There is nothing in 
them like sober and serious ijiquiry. They are the 
wildest fanatics on earth. Nor have they agreed among 
themselves on any scheme of truth and felicity. Con- 
trast with the character of infidels that of real Chris- 
tians. 

It is advantageous to dwell, with youth, on the need 
m 2 



138 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

and necessities of man. " Every pang and grief tells 
a man that he deeds a helper : but infidelity provides 
none. And what can its schemes do for you in death ?" 

Impress them with a sense of their ignorance. 
I silence myself many times a day, by a sense of my 
own ignorance. 

Appeal to their consciences. " Why is it that 
you listen to infidelity ? Is not infidelity a low, carnal, 
wicked game ? Ts it not the very picture of the prodi- 
gal — Father, give me the portion of goods thai fall- 
eth to me ? — The question why infidelity is received, 
exposes it, and shows it to the light. Why— why will 
a man be an infidel ? Your children may urge difficul- 
ties : but tell them that inexplicable difficulties surround 
you : you are compelled to believe, in ninety-nine cases 
out of a hundred, whether you will or no ; and shall 
you not be a believer in the hundredth instance from 
choice ? 

Draw out a map of the road of infidelity. It will 
lead them to such stages, at length as they never could 
suspect. Is thy servant a dog, that he should do 
this thing ? 

The spirit and tone of your house will have great 
influence on your children. If it is what it ought to be, 
it will often fasten conviction on their minds, however 
wicked they may become. I have felt the truth of this 
in my own case : I said, " My father is right, and I am 
wrong ! Oh, let me die the death of the righteous, 
and let my last end be like his /" The bye-conver- 
sations in a family are, in this view, of unspeakable im- 
portance. 

On the w T hole, arguments addressed to the heart 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 



139 



press more forcibly than those addressed to ths head. 
When I was child, and a very wicked one too, one of 
Dr. Watt's Hymns sent me to weep in a corner. The 
lives in Jane way's Token had the same effect. I felt 
the influence of faith in suffering Christians. The char- 
acter of young Samuel came home to me, when nothing 
else had any hold on my mind. 



ON THE MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. 

Great wisdom is requisite in correcting the evils of 
children. A child is bashful perhaps : but, in stimulat- 
ing this child, we are too apt to forget future conse- 
quences. " Hold up your head. Don't be vulgar." 
At length they hold up their heads ; and acquire such 
airs, that, too late, we discover our error. We forgot 
that we were giving gold, to purchase dross. We for- 
got that we were sacrificing modesty and humility, to 
make them young actors and old tyrants.* 

* The reader cannot but admire the sentiments, which Bishop Hurd 
has, on this subject, put into the mouth of Mr. Locke, one of his supposed 
interlocutors in the Dialogue on Foreign Travels. 

" Bashfulness is not so much the effect of an ill education, as the proper 
gift and provision of wise nature. Every stage of life has its own set of 
manners, that is suited to it, and best becomes it. Each is beautiful in 
its season ; and you might as well quarrel with the child's rattle, and ad- 
vance him directly to the boy's top and span-farthing, as expect from 
diffident youth the manly confidence of riper age. 

" Lamentable in the mean time, I am sensible, is the condition of my 
good lady ; who, especially if she be a mighty, well bred one, IS perfectly 
shocked at the boy's awkwardness, and calls out on the tailor, the danc- 
ing-master, the player, the travelled tutor, any body and every body, to 

relieve her from the pain of so disgraceful an object. 

" She should, however, be told, if a proper season and words soft en- 
ough could be found to convey the information, that the odious thing 



140 REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 

Christians are imbibing so much of the cast and 
temper of the age, that they seem to be anxiously tutor- 
ing their children, and preparing them by all manner 
of means, not for a better world, but for the present. 
Yet in nothing should the simplicity of faith be more 
unreservedly exercised, than with regard to children. 
Their appointments and stations, yea, even their pre- 
sent and eternal happiness or misery, so far as they are 
influenced by their states and conditions in life, may be 
decided by the most minute and trivial events, all of 
which are in God's hand, and not in ours. An unbe- 
lieving spirit prevades, in this respect, too intimately 
the Christian world. 



When I meet children to instruct them, I do not suf- 
fer one grown person to be present. The Moravians 
pursue a different method. Some of their elder 'breth- 
ren even sit among the children, to sanction and en- 
courage the work. This is well, provided children are 
to be addressed in the usual manner. But that will ef- 
fect little good. Nothing is easier than to talk to chil- 
dren ; but, to talk to them as they ought to be talked 
to, is the very last effort of ability. A man must have a 
vigorous imagination. He must have extensive know- 
ledge, to call in illustrations from the four corners of 

which disturbs her so much, is one of nature's signatures impressed on 
that age; thatbashfulness is but the passage from one season of life to 
another ; and that as the body is then the least graceful, when the limbs 
are making their last efforts and hastening to their just proportion, so 
the manners are least easy and disengaged, when the mind, conscious 
and impatient of its perfections, is stretching all its faculties to their 
full growth." 

See Bishop Hurd's Moral and Political Dialogues, Ed. 6th. 

Lond. 1788, vol. 3d, pp. 99, 100, 101. J. P. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 141 

the earth ; for lie will make little progress, but by illus- 
tration. It requires great genius, to throw the mind 
into the habit of children's minds. I aim at this, but I 
find it the utmost effort of ability. No sermon ever put 
my mind half so much on the stretch. The effort is 
such, that, were one person present, who was capable 
of weighing the propriety of what I said, it would be 
impossible for ine to proceed : the mind must, in such 
a case, be perfectly at its ease : it must not have to ex- 
ert itself under cramps and fetters. I am surprised at 
nothing which Dr. Watts did, but his Hymns for Chil- 
dren. Other men could have written as well as he, in 
his other works : but how he wrote these hymns, I 
know not. Stories fix children's attention. The mo- 
ment I begin to talk in any thing like an abstract man- 
ner, the attention subsides. The simplest manner in the 
world will not make way to children's minds for abstract 
truths. With stories I find I could rivet their attention 
for two of three hours. 



Children are very early capable of impression. 1 
imprinted on my daughter the idea of faith, at a very 
early age. She was playing one day with a few beads, 
which seemed to delight her wonderfully. Her whole 
soul was absorbed in her beads. I said — " My dear, 
you have some pretty beads there." — " Yes, Papa !" — 
"And you seem to be vastly pleased with them." — 
" Yes, Papa !" — "Well now, throw 'em behind the fire." 
The tears started into her eyes. She looked earnestly 
at me, as though she ought to have a reason for such a 
cruel sacrifice. "Well, my dear, do as you please: 
but you know I never told you to do any thing which 1 



142 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

did not think would be good for you." She looked at 
me a few moments longer, and then — summoning up 
all her fortitude — her "breast heaving with the effort — 
she dashed them into the fire. — " Well/' said I ; " there 
let them lie, you shall hear more about them another 
time ; but say no more about them now." Some days 
after, I bought her a box full of larger beads, and toys 
of the same kind. When I returned home, I opened 
the treasure and set it before her : she burst into tears 
with extacy. " Those, my child," said I, " are yours : 
because you believed me, when I told you it would be 
better for you to throw those two or three paltry beads 
behind the fire. Now that has brought you this treasure. 
But now, my dear, remember, as long as you live, what 
Faith is. I did all this to teach you the meaning of 
Faith. You threw your beads away when I bid you, 
because you had faith in me, that I never advised you 
but for your good. Put the same confidence in God. 
Believe every thing that he says in his word. Wheth- 
er you understand it or not, have faith in him that he 
means your good." 



on family worship. 

Family religion is of unspeakable importance. Its 
effect will greatly depend on the sincerity of the head 
of the family, and on his mode of conducting the wor- 
ship of his household. If his children and servants do 
not see his prayers exemplified in his tempers and 
and maimers they will be disgusted with religion. Te- 
diousness will weary them. Fine languge will shoot 
about them. Formality of connexion or composition in 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 143 

prayer they will not comprehend. Gloominess or aus- 
terity of devotion will make them dread religion as a 
hard service. Let them be met w r ith smiles. Let them 
be met as for the most delightful service, in which they 
can be engaged. Let them find it short, savory, simple, 
plain, tender, heavenly. Worship, thus conducted, 
may be used as an engine of vast power in a family. 
It diffuses a sympathy through the members. It calls 
off the mind from the deadening effect of worldly af- 
fairs. It arrests every member, with a morning and 
evening sermon, in the midst of all the hurries and 
cares of life. It says, " There is a God " — " There is 
a spiritual world !" — " There is a life to come !" It fix- 
es the idea of responsibility in the mind. It furnishes 
a tender and judicious father or master with an oppor- 
tunity of gently glancing at faults, where a direct ad- 
monition might be inexpedient. It enables him to re- 
lieve the weight with which subordination or service 
often sits on the minds of inferiors. 

In my family-worship I am not the reader, but em- 
ploy one of my children. I make no formal comment 
on the Scripture ; but, when any striking event or senti- 
ment arises, I say, "Mark that!" — "See how God 
judges of that thing !" Sometimes I ask what they 
think of the matter, and how such a thing strikes them. 
I generally receive very strange, and sometimes ridi- 
culous answers ; but I am pleased with them : atten- 
tion is all alive, while I am explaining wherein they err, 
and what is the truth. In this manner I endeavor to 
impress the spirit and scope of the passage on the fa- 
mily. 

J particularly aim at the eradication of a false prin- 



144 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

ciple, wonderfully interwoven with the minds of chil- 
dren and servants — they take their standard from the 
neighborhood and their acquaintance, and by this they 
judge of every thing. I endeavor to raise them to a 
persuasion, that God's will in Scripture is the standard ; 
and that this standard is perpetually in opposition to 
that corrupt one around and before them. 

The younger children of the family will soon have 
discernment enough to perceive that the Bible has a 
holiness about it, that runs directly contrary to the 
stream of opinion. And then because this character is 
so evident, and so inseparable from the Scripture, the 
heart will distaste and reject it. Yet the standard must 
be preserved. If a man should lower it, they would 
soon detect him ; and he must, after all, raise them up 
to the right standard again. Much may be effected by 
manner, as to impressing truth ; but still truth will re- 
main irksome, till God touch the heart. 

I read the Scriptures to my family in some regular 
order ; and am pleased to have thus a lesson found for 
me. I look on the chapter of the day as a lesson sent 
for that day ; and so I regard it as coming from God 
for the use of that day, and not of my own seeking. 

I find it easy to keep up the attention of a congrega- 
tion, in comparison of that of my family. I have found 
the attention best gained by bringing the truths of Scrip- 
ture into comparison with the facts which are before 
our eyes. It puts more stimuli into family expositions. 
I never found a fact lost, or the current news of the day 
fail of arresting the attention. " How does the Bible 
account for that fact ? — That man murdered his father 
— This or that thing happened in our house to-day— 
What does the Scripture say of such things?" 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 145 

It is difficult to fix and quiet your family. The ser- 
vants are eager to be gone, to do something in hand. 
There has been some disagreement, perhaps, between 
them and their mistress. We must seize opportuni- 
ties. We must not drive hard at such times as these. 
Regularity, however, must be enforced. If a certain 
hour is not fixed and adhered to, the family will inevit- 
ably be found in confusion. 

Religion should be prudently brought before the fa- 
mily. The old Dissenters wearied their families. Ja- 
cob reasoned well with Esau, about the tenderness of 
his children, and his flocks and herds. Something gen- 
tle, quiet, moderate, should be our aim. There should 
be no scolding : it should be mild and pleasant. 

I avoid absolute uniformity : the mind revolts at it : 
though I would shun eccentricity, for that is still worse. 
At one time I would say something on what is read : 
but, at another time, nothing. I make it as natural 
as possible. " 1 am a religious man : you are my chil- 
dren and my servants : it is natural that we should 
do so and so." 

Nothing of superstition should attach to family duty. 
Jt is not absolutely and in all cases indispensable. If 
unavoidably interrupted, we omit it : it is well. If 1 
were peremptorily ordered, as the Jews were, to bring 
a lamb, I must be absolute. But this service is my li- 
berty, not my task. I do not, however, mean in any de- 
gree to relax the proper obligation. 

Children and servants should s$e us acting on the 
Psalmist's declaration, / will speak of thy testimony 
before Kings. If a great man happen to be present, 
let them see that J deem him nothing before the word 

of God I n 



146 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 

ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE PARENTAL CHARACTER, 

The influence of the parental character on children 
is not to be calculated. Every thing around has an in- 
fluence on us. Indeed, the influence of things is so 
great, that, by familiarity with them, they insensibly 
urge us on principles and feelings which we before ab- 
horred. I knew a man who took in a democraticai 
paper, only to laugh at it. But at length, he had read 
the same things again and again, so often, that he began 
to think there must be some truth in them, and that men 
and measures were really such as they were so often 
said to be. A drop of water seems to have no influence 
on the stone ; but will, in the end, wear its way through, 
If there be therefore such a mighty influence in every 
thing aroimd us, the parental influence must be great 
indeed, 

Consistency is the great character, in good parents,, 
which impresses children. They may witness much 
temper ; but if they see their Father " keep the even 
tenor of his way > " his imperfections will be understood 
and allowed for as reason opens. The child will see 
and reflect on his parent's intention : and this will have 
great influence on his mind. This influence may, in- 
deed, be afterwards counteracted : but that only proves 
that contrary currents may arise, and carry the child 
another way. Old Adam may be too strong for young 
Melancthon. 

The implantation of principles is of unspeakable im- 
portance, especially when culled from time to time out 
of the Bible, The child feels his parent's authority 
supported by the Bible^ and the authority of the Bible 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 147 

supported by his parent's weight and influence. Here 
are data— fixed data. A man can very seldom get rid 
of these principles. They stand in his way. He wish- 
es to forget them, perhaps ; but it is impossible. 

Where parental influence does not convert, it ham- 
pers. It hangs on the wheels of evil. I had a pious 
mother, who dropped things in my way. I could nev- 
er rid myself of them. I was a professed infidel : but 
then I liked to be an infidel in company, rather than 
when alone. I was wretched when by myself. These 
principles, and maxims, and data spoiled my jollity. 
With my companions I could sometimes stifle them : 
like embers we kept one another warm. Besides, I 
was here a sort of hero. I had beguiled several of my 
associates into my own opinions, and had to maintain a 
character before them. But I could not divest myself 
of my better principles. I went with one of my com- 
panions to see " The Minor." He could laugh heart- 
ily at mother Cole — I could not. He saw in her the 
picture of all who talked about religion — I knew better. 
The ridicule on regeneration was high sport to him — to 
me, it was none : it could not move my features. He 
knew no difference between regeneration and transub- 
stantiation — 1 did. I knew there was such a thing. I 
was afraid and ashamed to laugh at it. Parental influ- 
ence thus cleaves to a man : it harrasses him — it throws 
itself continually in his way. 

I find in myself another evidence of the greatness of 
parental influence. I detect myself to this day, in lay- 
ing down maxims in my family, which 1 took up at 
three or four years of age, before I could possibly know 
the reason of the thing. 



148 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

It is of incalculable importance to obtain a hold on 
the conscience. Children have a conscience ; and it is 
not seared, though it is evil. Bringing the eternal 
world into their view — planning and acting with that 
world before us — this gains at length, such a hold on 
them, that, with all the infidel poison which they may 
afterward imbibe, there are few children who, at night 
— in their chamber — in the dark — in a storm of thunder 
— will not feel. They cannot cheat like other men. 
They recollect that eternity, which stands in their way. 
It rises up before them, like the ghost of Banquo to 
Macbeth. It goads them : it thunders in their ears. 
After all, they are obliged to compound the matter with 
conscience, if they cannot be prevailed on to return to 
God without delay : — " I must be religious, one time or 
other. That is clear. I cannot get rid of this thing. 
Well ! I will begin at such a time. I will finish such a 
scheme, and then !" 

The opinions — the spirit — the conversation — the man- 
ners of the parent, influence the child. Whatever sort 
of man he is, such in a great degree, will be the child ; 
unless constitution or accident give him another turn. 
If the parent is a fantastic man— if he is a genealogist, 
knows nothing but who married such an one, and who 
married such an one — if he is a sensualist, a low wretch 
— his children will usually catch these tastes. If he is 
a literary man — his very girls will talk learnedly. If he 
is a griping, hard, miserly man — such will be his chil- 
dren. This I speak of as generally the case. It 
may happen, that the parent's disposition may have no 
ground to work on in that of the child. It may happen, 
that the child may be driven into disgust : the miser, 






REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 149 

for instance, often implants disgust, and his son be- 
comes a spendthrift. 

After all, in some cases, perhaps, every thing seems 
to have been done and exhibited by the pious parent in 
vain. Yet he casts his bread upon the waters. And, 
perhaps, after he has been in his grave twenty years, 
his son remembers what his father told him. 

Besides, parental influence must be great because 
God has said that it shall be so. The parent is not to 
stand reasoning and calculating. God has said that 
his character shall have influence. 

And this appointment of Providence becomes often 
the punishment of a wicked man. Such a man is a 
complete selfist. I am weary of hearing such men 
talk about their " family " — and their " family " — they 
" must provide for their family." Their family has no 
place in their real regard. They push for them- 
selves. But God says — " No ! You think your chil- 
dren shall be so and so. But they shall be rods for 
your own backs. They shall be your curse. They 
shall rise up against you." The most common of all 
human complaints is — Parents groaning under the vices 
of their children ! This is all the effect of parental in- 
fluence. 

In the exercise of this influence there are two leading 
dangers to be avoided. 

Excess of severity is one danger. My mother, on 
the contrary, would talk to me, and weep as she talked. 
I flung out of the house with an oath — but wept too 
when 1 got into the street. Sympathy is the powerful 
engine of a mother. 1 was desperate — 1 would go on 
board of a privateer. But there are soft moments to 



150 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

such desperadoes. God does not, at once, abandon 
them to themselves. There are times when the man 
says — " I should be glad to return, but I should not 
like to meet that face !" if he has been treated with se- 
verity. 

Yet excess of laxity is another danger. The case 
of Eli affords a serious warning on this subject. Instead 
of his mild expostulation on the flagrant wickedness of 
his sons — Nay, my sons, it is no good report that I 
hear — he ought to have exercised his authority as a 
parent and magistrate in punishing and restraining their 
crimes. 



REMARKS ON AUTHORS. 

When I look at the mind of Lord Bacon — it seems 
vast, original, penetrating, analogical, beyond all com- 
petition. When I look at his character — it is wavering, 
shuffling, mean. In the closing scene, and in that only, 
he appears in true dignity, as a man of profound con- 
trition. 



Baxter surpasses, perhaps, all others, in the grand, 
impressive, and persuasive style. But he is not to be 
named with Owen as to furnishing the student's mind. 
He is, however, multifarious, complex, practical. 



Clarke has, above all other men, the faculty of low- 
ering the life and spiritual sense of Scripture to such 
perfection, as to leave it like dry bones, divested of ev- 
ery particle of marrow or oil. South is nearer the 
truth. He tells more of it ; but he tells it with the 
tongue of a viper, for he was most bitterly set against 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 151 

the puritans. But there is a spirit and life about him. 
He must and will be heard. And now and then, he 
darts on us with an unexpected and incomparable 
stroke. 



The modern german writers, and the whole school 
formed after them, systematically and intentionally con- 
found vice and virtue, and argue for the passions 
against the morals and institutions of society. There 
never was a more dangerous book written, than one 
that Mrs. Wolstoncraft left imperfect, but which 
Godwin published after her death. Her " Wrongs of 
Women" is an artful apology for adultery : she labors 
to interest the feelings in favor of an adulteress, by 
making her crime the consequence of the barbarous 
treatment of a despicable husband, while she is painted 
all softness and sensibility. Nothing like this was ever 
attempted before the modern school. 



" Some men," says Dr. Patten to me, K are always 
crying fire! fire!" To be sure — where there is dan- 
ger there ought to be affectionate earnestness. Who 
would remonstrate, coldly and with indifference, with a 
man about to precipitate himself from Dover Cliff, and 
not rather snatch him forcibly from destruction ? Truth, 
in its living influence on the heart, will show itself in 
consecratedness and holy zeal. When teachers of re- 
ligion are destitute of these qualities, the world readily 
infers that religion itself is a farce. Let us do the world 
justice. It has very seldom found a considerate, ac- 
commodating, and gentle, but withal earnest, heavenly, 
and enlightened teacher. When it has found such, 



152 REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 

truth has received a very general attention. Such a 
man was Hervey, and his works have met their reward. 



Homer approaches nearest of all the heathen poets 
to the grandeur of Hebrew poetry. With the theolo- 
gical light of Scripture, he would have wonderfully re- 
sembled it. 



Hooker is incomparable in strength and sanctity. 
His first books are wonderful. I do not so perfectly 
meet him, as he advances toward the close. 



Loskiel's "Account of the Moravian Missions among 
the North American Indians" has taught me two things. 
I have found in it a striking illustration of the uniform- 
ity with which the grace of God operates on men. 
Crantz, in his "Account of the Missions in Greenland," 
had shown the grace of God working on a man-fish : 
on a stupid — sottish — senseless creature — scarcely a 
remove from the fish on which he lived. Loskiel shows 
the same grace working on a man-devil : a fierce — 
bloody — revengeful warrior — dancing his infernal war- 
dance with the mind of a fury. Divine grace brings 
these men to the same point. It quickens, stimulates, 
and elevates the Greenlander : it raises him to a sort 
of new life : it seems almost to bestow on him new 
senses : it opens his eye, and bends his ear,, and rouses 
the heart : and what it adds — it sanctifies. The same 
grace tames the high spirit of the Indian : it reduces 
him to the meekness, and docility, and simplicity of a 
child. The evidence arising to Christianity from these 
facts is, perhaps, seldom sufficient, by itself, to con- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 153 

vince the gainsaijer : but, to a man who already be- 
lieves, it greatly strengthens the reasons of his belief. I 
have seen also in these books, that the fish-boat, and the 
oil, and the tomahawk,and the cap of feathers excepted 
— a Christian minister has to deal with just the same 
sort of creatures, as the Greenlander and the Indian 
among civilized nations. 



Owen stands at the head of his class of divines. His 
scholars will be more profound and enlarged, and better 
furnished, than those of most other writers. His work 
on the Spirit has been my treasure-house and one of 
my first rate books. Such writers as Riccaltoun 
rather disqualify than prepare a minister for the imme- 
diate business of the pulpit. Original and profound 
thinkers enlarge his views, and bring into exercise the 
powers and energies of his own mind, and should there- 
fore be his daily companions. Their matter must, how- 
ever, be ground down before it will be fit for the pul- 
pit. Such writers as Owen, who, though less original 
have united detail with wisdom, are copious in proper 
topics, and in matter better prepared for immediate 
use, and in furniture ready finished, as it were, for the 
mind. 



Paley is an unsound casuist, and is likely to do great 
injury to morals : His extenuation of the crimes com- 
mitted by an intoxicated man for instance, is fallacious 
and dangerous. Multiply the crime of intoxication into 
the consequences that follow from it, and you have the 
sum total of the guilt of a drunken man. 






154 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

Rutherford's Letters is one of my classics. Were 
truth the beam, I have no doubt, that if Homer and Vir- 
gil and Horace, and all that the world has agreed to 
idolize, were weighed against that book, they would 
be lighter than vanity. He is a real original. There 
are in his letters some inexpressibly forcible and arrest- 
ing remonstrances with unconverted men. 



I should not recommend a young minister to pay 
much deference to the Scotch Divines. The Erskines, 
who were the best of them, are dry, and labored, and 
prolix, and wearisome. He may find incomparable 
matter in them, but he should beware of forming his 
taste and manner after their model. I want a more 
kind hearted and liberal sort of divinity. He had 
much better take up Bishop Hall. There is a set of 
excellent, but wrong-headed men, who would reform 
the London preachers on a more elaborate plan. They 
are not philosophers who talk thus. If Owen himself 
were to rise from the grave, unless it were for the in- 
fluence of the great name which he would bring with 
him, he might close his days with a small congregation, 
in some little meeting-house. 



Shakspeare had a low and licentious taste. When 
he chose to imagine a virtuous and exalted character, 
he would completely throw his mind into it, and give 
the perfect picture of such a character. But he is at 
home in Falstaff. No high, grand, virtuous, religious 
aim beams forth in him. A man, v\hose heart and taste 
are modelled on the Bible, nauseates him in the mass, 
while he is enraptured and astonished by the flashes of 
of his pre-eminent genius. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 155 

tt Have you read my Key io the Romans ?" — said 
Dr. Taylor, of Norwich, to Mr. Newton. " I have 
turned it over." — You have turned it over ! And is 
this the treatment a book must meet with, which has 
cost me many years of hard study ? Must I he told, at 
last, that you have 'turned it over/ and then thrown it 
aside? You ought to have read it carefully and weighed 
deliberately what comes forward on so serious a sub- 
ject." — "Hold! You have cut me out full employment, 
if my life were to be as long as Methuselah's. 1" have 
somewhat else to do in the short day allotted me, than to 
read whatever any one may think it his duty to write. 
When I read, I wish to read to good purpose ; and 
there are some books, which contradict on the very face 
of them what appear to me to be first principles. You 
♦surely will not say I am bound to read sucli books. If 
a man tells me he has a very elaborate argument to 
prove that two and two make five, I have something 
else to do than to attend to this argument. If I find 
the first mouthful of meat which I take from a fine look- 
ing joint on my table is tainted, I need not eat through 
it to be convinced I ought to send it away." 



I never read any sermons so much like White* 
field's manner of preaching as Latimer's — You see a 
simple mind uttering all its feelings ; and putting forth 
every thing as it comes, without any reference to books 
or men, with a naivete seldom equalled. 



1 admired Witsiiss " Economj of the Covenants," 
but not so much as many prisons. — There is too much 
system. I used to study commentators and systei 



156 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

but I am come almost wholly,, at length, to the Bible. 
Commentators are excellent in general, where there are 
but few difficulties : but they leave the harder knot still 
untied. I find in the Bible, the more I read, a grand 
peculiarity, that seems to say to all who attempt to sys- 
tematize U, u I am not of your kind. I am not amen- 
able to your methods of thinking. I am untractable in 
your hands. I stand alone. The great and wise shall 
never exhaust my treasures. — By figures and parables 
I will come down to the feelings and understandings 
of the ignorant. Leave me as I am, but study me in- 
cessantly." Calvin's Institutes are, to be sure,, great 
and admirable, and so are his commentaries ; but after 
all, if we must have commentators — as we certainly 
must — Pool is incomparable, and I had almost said 
abundant of himself. 



Young is, of all other men, one of the most striking 
examples of the disunion of piety from truth. If we 
read his most true, impassioned, and impressive esti- 
mate of the world and of religion, we shall think it im- 
possible that he was uninfluenced by his subject. It is, 
however, a melancholy fact, that he was hunting after 
preferment at eighty years old ; and felt and spoke like 
a disappointed man. The truth was pictured on his 
mind in most vivid colors. He felt it, while he was 
writing. He felt himself on a retired spot : and he saw 
death, the mighty hunter, pursuing the unthinking 
world. He saw redemption — its necessity and its gran- 
deur ; and while he looked on it, he spoke as a man 
would speak whose mind and heart are deeply enga- 
ged. Notwithstanding all this, the view did not reach 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 157 

his heart. Had I preached in his pulpit with the fer- 
vor and interest that his " Night Thoughts" discover, 
he would have been terrified. He told a friend of mine 
who went to him under religious fears, that he must 

GO MORE INTO THE WORLD J" 



ON THE SCRIPTURES. 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS ON THE SCRIPTURES. 

I am an entire disciple of Butler. He calls his book 
"Analogy ;" but the great subject, from beginning to 
end, is human ignorance. Berkeley has done much to 
reduce man to a right view of his attainments in real 
knowledge ; but he goes too far : he requires a demon- 
stration of self-evident truths : he requires me to de- 
monstrate that that table is before me. Beattie lias 
well replied to this error, in his " Immutability of 
Truth ;" though it pleased Mr. Hume to call that book, 
— " Philosophy for the Ladies." 

Metaphysicians seem born to puzzle and confound 
mankind. I am surprised to hear men talk of their 
having demonstrated such and such points. Even An- 
drew Baxter, one of the best of these metaphysicians, 
though he reasons and speculates well, has not demon- 
strated to my mind one single point by his reasonings. 
They know nothing at all on the subject of moral and 
religious truth, beyond what God has revealed, 1 am 
so deeply convinced of this, that 1 can sit by and smile 
at the fancies ofthesemen; and especially when the) 
fancy they have found out DEMONSTRATIONS, Why there 



158 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

are demonstrators, who will carry the world before them; 
till another man rises, who demonstrates the very oppos- 
ite, and then, of course, the world follows him ! 

We are mere mites creeping on the earth, and often- 
times conceited mites too. If any superior being will 
condescend to visit us and teach us, something may be 
known. " Has God spoken to man ?" This is the most 
important question that can be asked. All ministers 
should examine this matter to the foundation. Many 
are culpably negligent herein. But when this has been 
done, let there be no more questionings and surmises. 
My son is not, perhaps, convinced that I am entitled to 
be his teacher. Let us try. If he finds that he knows 
more than I do — well : if he finds that he knows nothing 
and submits — I am not to renew this conviction in his 
mind every time he chooses to require me to do so. 

If any honest and benevolent man felt scruples in his 
breast concerning Revelation, he would hide them there ; 
and would not move wretched men from the only sup- 
port which they can have in this world. I am thorough- 
ly convinced of the want of real integrity and benevol- 
ence in all infidels. And I am as thoroughly convinced 
of the want of real belief of the Scriptures in most of 
those who profess to believe them. 

Metaphysicians can unsettle things, but they can 
erect nothing. They can pull down a church, but they 
cannot build a hovel. The Hutchinsonians have said 
the best things about the metaphysicians. I am no 
Hutchinsonian ; yet I see that they have data, and that 
there is something worth proving in what they assert. 

Principle is to be distinguished from prejudice. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL 159 

The man who should endeavor to weaken my belief of 
the truth of the Bible, and of the fair deduction from 
it of the leading doctrines of religion, under the notion 
of their being prejudices, should be regarded by me as 
an assassin. He stabs me in my dearest hopes : he 
robs me of my solid happiness ; and he has no equiva- 
lent to offer. This species of evidence of the truth and 
value of Scripture is within the reach of all men. It is 
my strongest. It assures me as fully as a voice could 
from heaven, that my principles are not prejudices. I 
see in the Bible my heart and the world painted to the 
life ; and I see just that provision made, which is com- 
petent to the highest ends and effects on this heart and 
this world. 



The Bible resembles an extensive and highly culti- 
vated garden, where there is a vast variety and pro- 
fusion of fruits and flowers : some of which are more 
essential or more splendid than others ; but there is not 
a blade suffered to grow in it, which has not its use and 
beauty in the system. Salvation for sinners, is the 
grand truth presented every where, and in all points of 
light ; but the <pure in heart sees a thousand traits of 
the divine character, of himself, and of the world — some 
striking and bold, others cast as it were into the shade, 
and designed to be searched for and examined — some 
direct, others by way of intimation or inference. 



He, who reads the Scripture, only in the translation, 
is meanly prepared as a public teacher. The habit of 
reading the Scriptures in the original throws a new 
light and sense over numberless passages. The origi- 



160 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

nal has, indeed, been obtruded so frequently, and some- 
times so absurdly, on the hearers, that their confidence 
in the translation has been shaken. The judicious line 
of conduct herein, is — To think with the wise, and talk 
with the vulgar — to attain, as far as possible and by all 
means, the true sense and force of every passage ; and, 
wherever that differs from the received translation, work 
it in imperceptibly, that the hearers may be instructed 
while they receive no prejudice against that form in 
which they enjoy the Scriptures. 



No man will preach the Gospel so freely as the 
Scriptures preach it, unless he will submit to talk like 
an Antinomian, in the estimation of a great body of 
Christians ; nor will any man preach it so practically 
as the Scriptures, unless he will submit to be called, 
by as large a body, an Arminian. Many think that 
they find a middle path : which is, in fact, neither one 
thing nor another ; since it is not the incomprehensible, 
but grand plan of the Bible. It is somewhat of human 
contrivance. It savors of human poverty and little- 
ness. 



Were the Scriptures required to supply a direct 
answer to every question which even a sincere inquirer 
might ask, it would be impracticable. They form, 
even now, a large volume. The method of instruction 
adopted in them is, therefore, this : — The rule is given : 
the doctrine is stated : examples are brought forward — 
cases in point, which illustrate the rule and the doc- 
trine : and this is found sufficient for every upright 
and humble mind. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 161 

The simple and unprejudiced study of the Bible is 
the death of religious extravagance.— Many read it 
under a particular bias of the mind. They read books, 
written by others, under the same views. Their preach- 
ing and conversation run in the same channel. If they 
could awaken themselves from this state, and come to 
read the whole Scripture for every thing which they 
could find there, they would start as from a dream — 
amazed at the humble, meek, forbearing, holy, heaven- 
ly character of the simple religion of the Scriptures, to 
which, in a greater or less degree, their eyes had been 
blinded. 



The right way of interpreting Scripture, is, to take 
it as we find it, without any attempt to force it into any 
particular system. Whatever may be fairly inferred 
from Scripture, we need not fear to insist on. Many 
passages speak the language of what is called Calvin- 
ism, and that in almost the strongest terms : I would 
not have a man clip and curtail these passages, to bring 
them down to some system : let him go with them in 
their free and full sense ; for otherwise, if he do not ab- 
solutely pervert them, he will attenuate their energy. 
But, let him look at as many more, which speak the 
language of Arminianism, and let him go all the way 
with these also. God has been pleased thus to state 
and to leave the thing ; and all our attempts to distort 
it, one way or the other, are puny and contemptible. 



A man may find much amusement in t lie Bible — va- 
riety of prudential instruction — abundance of sublimity 
and poetry : but, if he stops there, he stops short of its 

o2 



162 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

great end ; for, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit 
of prophecy. The grand secret in the study of the 
Scriptures, is, to discover Jesus Christ therein, the way, 
the truth, and the life. 



In reading the Scriptures, we are apt to think God 
farther removed from us, than from the persons to whom 
he spake therein : the knowledge of God will rectify 
this error ; as if God could be farther from us than from 
them. In reading the Old Testament especially, we 
are apt to think that the things spoken there, in the pro- 
phet Hosea, for instance, have little relation to us : the 
knowledge taught by Christian experience will rectify 
this error : as if religion were not always the same sort 
of transaction between God and the soul. 



There are two different ways of treating the truths 
of the Gospel — the scientific and the simple. It was 
seriously given me in charge, when I first entered into 
the ministry, by a female who attended my church, that 
I should study Baxter's "Catholic Theology." I did 
so : but the best idea that I acquired from this labor 
was, that the most sagacious and subtle men can make 
out little beyond the plain, obvious, and broad state- 
ment of truth in the Scriptures. I should think it a 
very proper and suitable punishment for a conceited 
and pragmatical dogmatist, to oblige him to digest that 
book. Another great truth, indeed, we may gather 
from it ; and that is, that the intemperate men, on either 
side, are very little aware of the consequences, which 
may be legitimately drawn from their principles. — 
Even Dr. Owen has erred. I would not compare him 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 163 

in this respect, with Baxter ; for he has handled his 
points with far greater wisdom and simplicity : yet he 
errs ex ahwidanti. He attempts to make out things 
with more accuracy, and clearness, and system, than 
the Bible will warrant. The Bible scorns to be treated 
scientifically. After all your accurate statements, it 
will leave you aground. The Bible does not come 
round, and ask our opinion of its contents. It pro- 
poses to us a constitution of grace, which we are to re- 
ceive, though we do not wholly comprehend it. Num- 
berless questions may be started on the various parts of 
this constitution. Much of it I cannot understand, even 
of what respects myself ; but I am called to act on it. 
And this is agreeable to analogy. My child will ask 
me questions on the fitness or unfitness of what I enjoin ; 
but I silence him : "You are not yet able to comprehend 
this : your business is, to believe me and obey me." 
But the schoolmen will not be satisfied with this view of 
things : yet they can make- nothing out satisfactorily. 
They have their de re, and their de nomine ; but no- 
thing is gained by these attempts at clearness and nice 
distinctions. These very accurate men, who think they 
adjust every thing with precision, cannot agree among 
one another,and do little else than puzzle plainer minds. 



Whatever definitions men have given of religion, I 
can find none so accurately descriptive of it as this — 
that it is such a belief of the Bible as maintains a living 
influence on the heart. — Men nia\ speculate, criticise, 
admire, dispute about, doubt, or believe the Bible : but 
the religious man is such because he so believes it, 
as to carry a practical sense of its truths on his mind. 



164 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL, 

The fears of the general class of Christians are con- 
cerned about the superstructure of religion; but those 
of speculative minds chiefly relate to the foundation. 
The less thinking man doubts whether he is on the foun- 
dation : he whose mind is of a more intellectual turn 
doubts concerning the foundation itself. I have met 
with many of these speculative cases. Attacks of this 
nature are generally sudden. A suspicion will, by sur- 
prise, damp the heart; and, for a time, will paint the 
Bible as a fable. I have found it useful on such occa- 
sions, to glance over the whole thread of Scripture. 
The Triiole presented in such a view, brings back the 
mind to its proper tone : the indelible characters of 
simplicity and truth impress with irresistible effect that 
heart, which can discern them as having once felt them. 



ON THE OLD AND NEW DISPENSATIONS. 

The Old and New Testaments contain but one 
scheme of religion. Neither part of this scheme can be 
understood without the other ; and, therefore, great er- 
rors have arisen from separating them. They are like 
the rolls on which they were abciently w r ritten, before 
books of the present form were invented. It is but one 
subject and one system, from beginning to end; but 
the view which w r e obtain of it grows clearer and clear- 
er, as we unwind the roll that contains it. 



There is one grand and striking feature of distinc- 
tion between the spirit of the Old Testament dispensa- 
tion and that of the New. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 165 

The Old Dispensation was a dispensation of limits 
way marks, forms and fashions : every thing was weigh- 
ed and measured: if a man did but gather sticks on 
the Sabbath, he was to be stoned without mercy ; if a 
Jew brought an offering, it was of no avail if not pre- 
sented at the door of the tabernacle : the manner, the 
time, the circumstances were all minutely instituted ; 
and no devotion or piety of spirit could exempt a man 
from the yoke of all these observances, for God had ap- 
pointed these as the way in which he chose that a de- 
vout Jew should express his state of mind. 

But the New Dispensation changed the whole system. 
Religion was now to become more peculiarly a spiritual 
transaction between God and the soul ; and indepen- 
dent, in a higher measure than ever before, of all posi- 
tive institutions. Its few, simple institutions had no 
further object, than the preservation of the unity, order, 
soundness, and purity of the church — in regard to doc- 
trine, government, and discipline. 

Nor had these appointments that character of unac- 
commodating inflexibility, which marked the institu- 
tions of the Old Dispensation. All nations, men of all 
habits and manners, are to drink life from the benefi- 
cent stream as it flows. It is to throw down no ob- 
structions, that are not absolutely incompatible with its 
progress. But it is appointed to pervade every place 
which it visits. Some, it enters without obstruction, 
and passes directly through. In some, it meets with 
mounds and obstacles ; yet rises till it finds an entrance. 
Others are so fenced and fortified, that it winds round 
them and flows forward : continuing to do so, till it, at 
length, finds some method of insinuating itself, 



166 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

And thus the dispensation of grace in the church ac- 
commodates itself to the various tempers and habits 
which it finds in different ages, nations, and bodies of 
men : it leaves in existence numberles opinions and pre- 
judices, if they are not inconsistent with its main de- 
sign, and mingles and insinuates itself among them. 
It has not limited Christianity to any one form of church 
polity, ordained and perfected in all its parts by divine 
authority : but Christians are left to act herein accord- 
ing to circumstances, and to the exercise of sound dis- 
cretion under those circumstances. 



ON TYPICAL AND ALLEGORICAL EXPLANATIONS OF 
SCRIPTURE. 

It might be expected, that, when God had deter- 
mined to send his Son into the world, there would be a 
train and concatenation of circumstances preparatory 
to his coming — that the history, which declared that he 
was to come, should exhibit many persons and things, 
which would form a grand preparation for the event, 
though not so many as an absurd fancy might imagine. 

There is a certain class of persons who wish to rid 
themselves of the types. Sikes insists that even the 
brazen serpent is called in by our Lord by way of illus- 
tration only, and not as a designed type. Robinson, 
of Cambridge, when he began to verge toward Socin- 
ianism, began to ridicule the types ; and to find matter 
of sport in the pomegranates and the bells of the high 
priest's garment. At all events, the subject should 
not be treated with levity and irreverence : it deserves 
serious reflection. 

With respect to the expediency of employing the 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 167 

types much in the pulpit, that is another question. I 
seldom employ them. I am jealous for truth and its 
sanctions. The Old Dispensation was a typical dis- 
pensation : but the New is a dispensation unrolled. 
When speaking of" the typical dispensation, we must 
admire a master, like St. Paul. But to us, modesty 
becomes a duty in treating such subjects in our minis- 
try. Remember, " This is none other but the house 
of God ! and this is the gate of heaven ! How dread- 
ful if I lead thousands with nonsense ! — if I lose the op- 
portunity of impressing solid truths ! — if I waste their 
precious time !" 

A minister should say to himself: " I would labor to 
cut off occasions of objecting to the truth. I would la- 
bor to grapple with men's consciences. I would shew 
them that there is no strange twist in our view of reli- 
gion. I must avoid, as much as possible, having my 
judgment called in question : many watch for this, and 
will avail themselves of any advantage. Some who 
hear me, are thus continually seeking excuses for not 
listening to the warnings and invitations of the word: 
they are endeavoring to get out of our reach ; but I 
would hold them fast by such passages as, " What 
shall a man give in exchange for his soul ! 

Many men labor to make the Bible their Bible. 
This is one way of getting its yoke off their necks. The 
mkaning, however of the Bible is the Bible. If I preach 
then on imputed righteousness, for instance, why should 
I preach from, the skies pour down righteousness, 
and then anathematize men for not believing the doc- 
trine, when it is not declared in the passage, and there 
arc hundreds of places so expressly to the point? 



168 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

Most of the folly on this subject of allegorical interpre- 
tation, has arisen from a want of holy awe on the mind. 
An evil fashion may lead some men into it ; and, so far, 
the case is somewhat extenuated. We should ever re- 
member, however, that it is a very different thing to al- 
legorize the New Dispensation from allegorizing the 
Old : the New is a dispensation of subsistance and re- 
alities. 

When a careless young man, I remember to have felt 
alarms in my conscience from some preachers ; while 
others, from this method of treating their subjects, let 
me off easily. I heard the man as a weak allegorizer : 
I despised him as a foolish preacher : till I met with 
some plain, simple, solid man, who seized and urged 
the obvious meaning. I shall, therefore, carry to my 
grave a deep conviction of the danger of entering far 
into typical and allegorical interpretations. 

Accommodation of Scripture, if sober, will give va- 
riety. The apostles do this so far as to show that it may 
have its use and advantage. It should, however, never 
be taken as a ground-work, but employed only in the 
way of allusion. I may use the passage, there is a 
friend that sticlceth closer than a brother, by way of 
allusion to Christ ; but I cannot employ it as the ground- 
work of a discourse on him. 



ON THE DIVERSITY OF CHARACTER IN CHRISTIANS, AND ON 
CORRECTING THE DEFECTS IN OUR CHARACTER. 

IN DISCOVERING AND COUNTERACTING THE DEFECTS OF 

our own character, it is of chief importance that we 
really intend to ascertain the truth. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 169 

The intention is extremely defective in us all. The 
man who thinks he has such honest intention., yet has 
it very imperfectly. He says — " Touch me : but touch 
me like a gentleman. Do not intrude on the delicacies 
of society." The real meaning of which is, that he has 
no intention of hearing the truth from you. A man, who 
has a wound to be healed, comes to the surgeon with 
such an intention to get it healed, that if he suspected 
Iiis skill or his fidelity he would seek another. 

Intention, or a man's really desiring to know the 
truth concerning himself, would produce attention. 
He would soon find, that there is little close business in 
a man, who does not withdraw from the world* 

He will begin with self-suspicion. " Perhaps I am 
such or such or such a man. I see defects in all my 
friends, and I must be a madman not to suppose that I 
also have mine. I see defects in my friends, which 
they not only do not themselves see, but they will not 
suffer others to show these defects to them. I must, 
therefore, take it for granted that I am a more foolish 
and pragmatical fellow than I can conceive." 

If he begin thus, then he will be willing to proceed a 
step further : " Let me try if I cannot reach these de- 
fects." 1 have found out myself by seeing my picture 
in another man. I would choose men of my own consti- 
tution : other men would give me no proper picture of 
myself. In such men, 1 can see actions to be ridiculous 
or absurd, when I could not have seen them to be so in 
myself. We may learn some features of our portrait 
from enemies: an enemy gives i hard feature probably, 
bui il is often a truer likeness than can be obtained 
from n friend. What with your friend's tenderness for 



170 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

3'ou, and your own tenderness for yourself, you cannot 
get at the true feature. We should,, moreover, encour- 
age our friends. You cannot, in one case in ten, go to a 
man on a business of this nature, without offending him. 
He will allege such and such excuses for the defect, and 
fritter it away to nothing. This shows the hypocrisy— 
the falsehood— the self-love—and the flattery of the heart. 
This endeavor to conceal or palliate defects, instead of 
a desire to discover them, grows up with us from infancy. 
There is something so deceitful in sin ! A man is 
brought to believe his own lie ! He is so accustomed to 
hide himself from himself, that he is surprised when an- 
other detects and unmasks him. Hazael verily believed 
himself incapable of becoming what the prophet foretold. 

Many motives urge us to attempt a rectification of 
our defects. Consider the importance of character : he 
who says he cares not what men think of him, he is on 
a very low form in the school of experience and wisdom : 
character and money effect almost every thing. It 
should be considered, too, how much we have smarted 
for want of attending to our defects : nineteen out of 
twenty of our smarting times, arise from this cause. 

In counteracting our defects, however, we should be 
cautious not to blunder by imitation of others. There 
are such men in the world as saint-errants. One of 
these men takes. up the History of Ignatius Loyola ; and 
nothing seems worthy of his endeavor,but to be just such 
a man in all the extravagancies of Ms character and 
conduct. We should search till we find where our 
character fails, and then amend it — not attempt to be- 
come another man. 

A wise man, who is seriously concerned to learn the 



REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 171 

truth respecting himself, will not spurn it even from a 
fool. The great men who kept fools in their retinue, 
learnt more truth from them than from their compan- 
ions. A real self-observer will ask whether there is 
any truth in what the fool says of him. Nay, a truth, 
that may be uttered in envy or anger, will not lose its 
weight with him. The man, who is determined to find 
happiness, must bear to have it even beaten into him. 
No man ever found it by chance, or " yawned it into 
being with a wish." When I was young, my mother had 
a servant whose conduct I thought truly wise. A man 
was hired to brew ; and this servant was to watch his 
method, in order to learn his art. In the course of the 
process, something was done which she did not under- 
stand. She asked him, and he abused her with the vil- 
est epithets for her ignorance and stupidity. My mother 
asked her when she related it, how she bore such abuse. 
" I would be called," said she, " worse names a thous- 
and times, for the sake of the information which I got 
out of him." 

If a man would seriously set himself to this work, he 
must retire from the crowd. He must not live in a bus- 
tle. If he is always driving through the business of the 
day, he will be so in harness as not to observe the road 
he is going. 

He must place perfect standards before his eyes. 
Every man has his favorite notions ; and, therefore, no 
man is a proper standard. The perfect standard is 
only to be found in Scripture. Elijah meets Ahak and 
holds up the perfect standard before his eyes, till he 
shrinks into himself.* I have found great benefit in 

■ I Kings xviji. 17, etc. 



172 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

being sickened and disgusted with the false standards 
of men. I turn, with stronger convictions, to the per- 
fect standard of God's word. 

He should also commune with his own heart upon 
his bed — " How did I fall, at such or such a time, into 
my peculiar humors ! Had any other man done so, I 
should have lost my patience with him." 

Above all, he must make his defects matter of con- 
stant prayer — Search me, God, and know my heart: 
try me j and know my thoughts : and see if there be 
any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever- 
lasting. 



Men are to be estimated, as Johnson says, by the 
mass of character. A block of tin may have a grain 
of silver, but still it is tin ; and a block of silver may 
have an alloy of tin, but still it is silver. The mass of 
Elijah's character was excellence ; yet he was not with- 
out alloy. The mass of Jehu's character was base ; 
yet he had a portion of zeal which was directed by 
God to great ends. Bad men are made the same use 
of as scaffolds : they are employed as means to erect a 
building, and then are taken down and destroyed. 

We must make great allowance for constitution. I 
could name a man, who, though a good man, is more 
unguarded in his tongue than many immoral persons •. 
shall I condemn him ? he breaks down here, and almost 
here only. On the other hand, many are so mild and 
gentle, as to make one wonder how such a character 
could be formed without true grace entering into its 
composition. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 173 

God has given to every man a peculiar constitution. 
No man is to say, " I am such or such a man, and I can 
be no other — such or such is my way, and I am what 
God made me." This is true, in a sound sense : but 
in an unsound sense, it has led men foolishly and wick- 
edly to charge their eccentricities and even their crimes 
on God. It is every man's duty to understand his own 
constitution ; and to apply to it the rein or the spur, as 
it may need. All men cannot do, nor ought they to do, 
all things in the same way, nor even the same things. 
But there are common points of duty, on which all men 
of all habits are to meet. The free horse is to be 
checked, perhaps, up-hill, and the sluggish one to be 
urged ; but the same spirit, which would have exhaust- 
ed itself before, shows itself probably in resistance 
down-hill, when lie feels the breeching press upon him 
behind — but he must be whipped out of his resistance. 

There is a large class of Christians, who want dis- 
crimination in religion. They are sound and excellent 
men, but they are not men of deep experience. They 
are not men of Owen's, Gilpin's, Rutherford's, Adams's, 
or Brainerd's school. They have a general, but not a 
minute acquaintance, with the combat between sin and 
grace in the heart. I have learnt not to bring deeply 
experimental subjects before such persons. They can- 
not understand them, but are likely to be distressed by 
them. This difference between persons of genuine pietj 
arises from constitution — or from the manner in which 
the grace of God first met them — or from the nature 
and degree of temptation through which God has led 
them. A mind finely constituted, or of strong passions 

p 2 



174 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

— a mind roused in its sins, rather than one drawn in- 
sensibly — a mind trained in a severe school for high ser- 
vices — is generally the subject of this deeply interior 
acquaintance with religion. 



There is a great diversity of character among real 
Christians. Education, constitution, and circumstances 
will fully explain this diversity. 

He has seen but little of life, who does not discern 
every where the efiects of education on men's opinions 
and habits of thinking. Two children bring out of the 
nursery that, which displays itself throughout their lives. 
And who is the man that can rise above his dispensa- 
tion, and can say, " You have been teaching me non- 
sense ?" 

As to constitution — look at Martin Luther : we may 
see the man every day : his eyes, and nose, and mouth 
attest his character. Look at Melancthon : he is like 
a snail with his couple of horns : he puts out his horns 
and feels — and feels — and feels. No education could 
have rendered these two men alike. Their difference 
began in the womb. Luther dashes in saying his 
things : Melancthon must go round about — he must 
consider what the Greek says, and what the Syriac 
says. Some men are born minute men — lexicograph- 
ers — of a German character : they will hunt through 
libraries to rectify a syllable. Other men are born 
keen as a razor : they have a sharp, severe, strong acu- 
men : they cut every thing to pieces : their minds are 
like a case of instruments ; touch which you will, it 
wounds : they crucify a modest man. Such men should 
aim at a right knowledge of character. If they attain- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 175 

ed this, they would find out the sin that easily besets 
them. The greater the capacity of such men, the great- 
er their cruelty. They ought to blunt their instru- 
ments. They ought to keep them in a case. Other 
men are ambitious — fond of power ; pride and power 
give a velocity to their motions. Others are born with 
a quiet, retiring mind. Some are naturally fierce, and 
others naturally mild and placable. Men often take to 
themselves great credit for what they owe entirely to 
nature. If we would judge rightly, we should see that 
narrowness or expansion of mind, niggardliness or 
generosity, delicacy or boldness, have less of merit or 
demerit than we commonly assign to them. 



Circumstances, also, are not sufficiently taken into 
the account, when we estimate character. For example 
— we generally censure the Reformers and Puritans 
as dogmatical, morose, systematic men. But, it is 
easier to walk on a road, than to form that road. Oth- 
er men labored, and we have entered into their la- 
bors. In a fine day, I can walk abroad ; but, in a 
rough and stormy day, I should find it another thing lo 
turn coachman and dare all weathers. These men had 
to bear the burden and heat of the day: they had to 
fight against hard times : they had to stand up against 
learning and power. Their times were not like ours : 
a man may now think what he will, and nobody cares 
what he thinks. A man of that school was, of course, 
still*, rigid, unyielding. Tuckney was such a man : 
Winchcot was for smoothing tilings, and walking abroa I. 
We see circumstances operating in many other ways. 
A minister unmarried, and the same man married. 



176 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

very different men. A minister in a small parish,, and 
the same man in a large sphere where his sides are spur- 
red and goaded, are very different men. A minister 
on tenter hooks — harrassed — schooled, and the same 
man nursed — cherished — put into a hot-house, are very 
different men. Some of us are hot house plants. We 
grow tall : not better — not stronger. Talents are among 
the circumstance which form the diversity of character, 
A man of talents feels his own powers, and throws him- 
self into that line which he can pursue with most suc- 
cess. Saurin felt that he could flourish — lighten — thun- 
der — enchant, like a magician. Every one should se- 
riously consider, how far his talents and turn of mind 
and circumstances drive him out of the right road. It 
is an easy thing for a man of vigor to bring a quiet one 
before his bar : and it is easy for this quiet man to con- 
demn the other : yet both may be really pious men — - 
serving God with their best powers. Every man has 
his peculiar gift of God ; one after this manner, and 
the other after that. 



ON THE FALLEN NATURE OF MAN. 

I seem to acquire little new knowledge on any sub- 
ject, compared to that which I acquire concerning man. 
This subject is inexhaustible. I have lately read Col- 
quhoun's Treatise on the " Police of the Metropolis," 
and Barruell's "Memoirs of Jacobinism." When we 
preachers draw pictures of human nature in the pulpit, 
we are told that we calumniate it. Calumniate it ! — 
Let such censurers read these writers, and confess that 
we are novices in painting the vices of the heart. All 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 177 

of us live to make discoveries of the evils of the heart — 
not of its virtues. All our new knowledge of human 
nature is occupied with its evil. 



Bartholomew fair is one of the most perfect exhibi- 
tions of unrestrained human nature in the whole world. 
The monkey, the tiger, the wolf, the hog, and the goat, 
are not only to be found in their own, but in human form ; 
with all their savageness, brutality, and filthiness. It 
displays human nature in its most degraded, ridiculous 
and absurd conditions. The tiger may be seen in a 
quiescent state, if we pass through Dyot street : he 
couches there : he blinks. But, at Bartholomew fair, 
he is rampant — vigorous — fierce. Passing through a 
fair in a country town, I witnessed a most instructive 
scene. Two withered, weatherbeaten wretches were 
standing at the door of a show cart, and receiving two- 
pences from sweet, innocent, ruddy country girls, who 
paid their money, and dropped their curtsies ; while 
these wretches smiled at their simplicity, and clapped 
them on the back as they entered the door. What a 
picture this of Satan ! He sets oft' his shows, and draws in 
heedless creatures, and takes from them every thing 
they have good about them ! There was a fellow dress- 
ed out as a zany, with a hump back and a hump bell\ , 
a lengthened nose, and a lengthened chin. To what a 
depth of degradation must human nature be sunk, io 
seek such resources ! I derived more instruction from 
this scene, than I could have done from many elaborate 
theological treatises. 



J & l 



View man on whatever side we can — in his sinsuali- 



178 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 



ties, or in his ferocities — in the sins of his flesh, or in the 
sins of his spirit : catch him when and where you will — 
his condition is deplorable. While he is sunk in the mass 
himself, he has no perception of his state : but when he 
begins to emerge, he looks down with amazement. He 
sees but little, however, of its abomination ; because he 
has still an affinity with the evil. 

Human nature is like the sea, which gains by the 
flow of the tide in one place, what it has lost by the ebb 
in another. A man may acquiesce in the method 
which God takes to mortify his pride ; but he is in dan- 
ger of growing proud of the mortification : and so in 
other cases. 



ON THE NEED OF GRACE. 

There is something so remarkable in the genius and 
spirit of the Gospel, that it is not to be understood by 
any force of speculation and investigation. Baxter at- 
tempted this method, and found it vain. The state of 
the heart has the chief influence, in the search after 
truth. Humility, contrition, simplicity, sanctity — these 
are the handmaids of the understanding in the investi- 
gation of religion. 

How is it that some men labor in divine things night 
and day, but labor in vain ? How is it that men can 
turn over the Bible from end to end to support errors 
and heresies — absurdities and blasphemies ? They 
take not the spirit with the word. A spiritual under- 
standing must be given — a gracious perception — a 
right taste. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 179 

"A very extraordinary thing/' said one, " if I, who 
have read the Bible over and over in the original lan- 
guages — have studied it day and night — and have writ- 
ten criticisms and comments on it : a very extraordin- 
ary thing that I should not be able to discover that 
meaning in the Scriptures, which is said to be so plain 
that a waij-faring man though a fool shall ?wt err 
in discovering it !" And so it is extraordinary till we 
open this Bible ; and there we see the fact explained. 
The man who approaches the word of God in his wis- 
dom, shall not find what the fool shall discover under 
the teaching of divine wisdom : For it is written, I 
will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring 
to nothing the understanding of the prudent — and 
God hath chosen the foolish things of the tvorld to 
confound the wise. 

God, in his providence, seems to make little account 
of the measures and contrivances of men, in accomplish- 
ing his designs. He will do the work, and his hand will 
be seen in the doing of it. We are obliged to wait for 
the tide. When that flows, and the wind sets in fair, 
let us hoist the sails. When the tide has left a ship on 
the beach, an army may attempt to move it in vain ; 
but when she has floated by the water, a small force 
moves her. We must wait for openings in Providence. 
In this light I view the darkness of the heathen world. 
Let us follow every apparent leading of Providence, 
in our endeavors to communicate light to the heathen ; 
but, still, the opening and the whole work must be of 
God. Thousands, indeed, hear the Gospel, who are no 
more impressed by it than though they were heathens. 



180 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

The minds of some men will stand, as it were, a regu- 
lar blockade, and yet yield to a side blow — sit unchang- 
ed under a searching ministry, and yet fall beneath a 
casual word. I know such cases. We might account, 
indeed, for them, in some measure, as philosophers. 
The mind, which plants itself against and repells the 
formal and avowed attacks of the preacher, may be sur- 
prised by a hint addressed, perhaps, to another : yet, af- 
ter all, the whole work is of God. We may make very 
little, therefore, of the vehicle. The gospel — the wants 
of men— the indisposition of the heart— and the mighty 
power of God — are always and universally the same. 
By whatever vehicle God conveys that mighty energy, 
which disposes man to find the relief of his wants in the 
Gospel, he is still the worker. It is a divine opera- 
tion of God's Holy Spirit. If God would raise up 
heathen princes with the spirit of Peter the Great, or 
Kouli Khan, and send them forth under the powerful 
influence of Christianity to proselyte their subjects, we 
might expect the end to be accomplished : but this is a 
scheme suited to our littleness, and not to Him, whose 
thoughts are not as our thoughts, and whose ways 
are not as our ways. 



A lady proposed to me a case, which seemed to her 
to decide against those views of religion called evangel- 
ical. She knew a most amiable girl who was respect- 
ful and attentive to her parents, and engaging and love- 
ly to all connected with her : who had, however, no ob- 
jection to seeing a play ; and had certainly nothing of 
that, which she knew I should call religion : but she ask- 
ed if I could believe that God would condemn such a 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 181 

character to everlasting misery. Many persons view 
things in this way. They set themselves up to dictate 
to God what should be done, on points which lie only can 
determine. If these persons are ever cured of this evil, 
it must probably be in some such way as that by which 
it pleased God to teach Job. Job could assert his inte- 
grity and his character against the arguments of his 
friends ; but, when God asked, Where wast thou when 
I laid the foundations of the earth ? Job prostrates 
his soul with this declaration — I have heard of thee 
with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth 
thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, a?id repent in dust 
and ashes. 



Every thinking man will look round him, when he 
reflects on his situation in this world ; and will ask, 
" What will meet my case ? What is it that I want ? 
What will satisfy me ? I look at the rich — and I see 
Ahab, in the midst of all his riches, sick at heart for a 
garden of herbs ! I see Dives, after all his wealth, lift- 
ing up his eyes in hell, and begging for a drop of water 
to cool the rage of his sufferings ! I see the rich fool 
summoned away, in the very moment when he was ex- 
ulting in his hoards ! If I look at the wise — I see Solo- 
mon, with all his wisdom, acting like a fool ; and I 
know, that, if I possessed all his wisdom, were I left to 
myself I should act as he did. 1 see Ahithophel, with 
all his policy, hanging himself for vexation ! If] turn 
to men of pleasure — 1 see that the very sum of all 
pleasure is, that it is Satan's bed into which he casts 
his slaves ! I see Esau selling his birth-right for a mess 
of pottage ! I see Solomon, after all his enjoyments. 



182 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

leaving his name a scandal to the church to the latest 
age ! If I think of honor — take a walk in Westmin- 
ster Abbey — there is an end of all inquiry. There I 
walk among the mighty dead ! There is the winding 
up of human glory ! And what remains of the greatest 
men of my country ? — A boasting epitaph ! None of 
these things, then can satisfy me ! I must meet death 
— I must meet judgment — I must meet God — I must 
meet eternity !" 



ON THE OCCASIONS OF ENMITY AGAINST CHRISTIANITY. 

The cause of enmity against real Christianity is in 
the heart. The angel Gabriel might exhibit the truth, 
but the heart would rise in enmity. To suppose that 
there is any way of preaching the cross so as not to of- 
fend the world, is to know nothing of the subject. 

There are many occasions, however, of calling forth 
this enmity. Any man, who should bleed me, would 
put me to pain ; but he would greatly aggravate my 
pain, if he rudely tore my skin. Occasions may ren- 
der the reception of that truth morally impossible, which, 
under the most favorable circumstances, is received 
with difficulty. 

Ignorance, in ministers, is an occasion of exciting 
enmity against Christianity. A man may betray ig- 
norance on almost every subject, except the way of 
salvation. But if others see him to be a fool off his 
own ground, they will think a fool on that ground. It 
is a great error to rail against human learning, so as to 
imply an undervaluing of knowledge. A man may 
have little of what is called learning, but he must have 
knowiedge. Bunyan was such a man. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 183 

Religious profession was, at first a conflict — a sac- 
rifice : now it is become a trade. The world sees 
this spirit pervade many men : and it is a great occa- 
sion of enmity. Men of learning and character have 
confirmed this impression : they have brought out this 
mischief, and exhibited it to the world. Let any man 
look into Warburton's " Doctrine of Grace/' and he 
may sit down and wonder that God should suffer such 
occasions of enmity to arise. 

Fanatical times furnish another occasion. The 
days of Cromwell, for instance. The great enemy of 
godliness will never want instruments to make the best 
of such subjects of ridicule. As long as such a book 
as Butler's Hudibras is in the world, it will supply oc- 
casions of enmity against real religion. 

An UNHOLY, INSOLENT PROFESSOR OF RELIGION OCCa- 

sions enmity. He scorns and insults mankind. His 
spirit is such as to give them occasion of contemning 
the truth which he professes. The world will allow 
some men to call it to account : they will feel a weight 
of character in a holy and just man. 

Eccentricity, in religious men, is another occasion 
of enmity. Ask an eccentric man, a question : he will 
stare in your face, and look very spiritual. I knew 
one of these men who called out to a farmer as he was 
passing, "Farmer! what do you know of Jesus Christ?" 
Much spiritual pride lurks under this conduct. There 
is want of breeding and good sense. The world is led 
to form wrong associations by such characters : "Reli- 
gion makes a man a fool, or mad : therefore 1 will not 
become religious." 

Injudicious preaching increases the offence of the 



184 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

cross. Strange interpretations of Scripture — ludicrous 
comparisons — silly stories — talking without thinking : 
these are occasions of enmity. 

The loose and indiscreet conduct of professing 
Christians, particularly of ministers, is another occasion. 
The world looks at ministers out of the pulpit, to know 
what they mean when in it. 

An ostentatious spirit in a professor of religion 
does great injury — that giving out that he is some 
great one. Even a child will often detect this spirit, 
when we think no one discovers it. 

The manner of conducting the devotional part 
of public service is sometimes offensive. It is as 
much as to say, "we mean nothing by this service* 
Have patience, and you shall hear me." 

Slighting the offence of irregularity has done 
much harm. It was a wise reply of a Spanish minister 
to his king : " Omit this affair : it is but a ceremony !" 
" A ceremony ! Why the King is a ceremony !" 

Good men have given occasion of offence by main- 
taining suspicious connexions. There is a wide dif- 
ference between my not harrassing and exposing a 
doubtful character, and my endorsing and authenticat- 
ing him. 

Contempt of men's prejudices of education will of- 
fend. It was not thus with St. Paul : I am made all 
things to all men, that I might by all means save 
some. 

A WANT OF THE SPIRIT OF THE CROSS IN ITS PROFES- 
SORS increases the offence of the cross — that humility, 
patience, and love to souls, which animated Christ when 

* Exodus xii. 26. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 185 

he offered himself on the cross for the sins of the world. 
These are some of the stumbling-blocks in the way 
of the world. And wo unto the world, says our Lord, 
because of offences ! for it must needs be that of- 
fences come, but wo unto him by whom the offence 
cometh ! Every man, who is zealous for the diffusion 
of true religion, should keep his eye on all occasions of 
offence, since religion, of itself and in its own native 
beauty, has to encounter the natural enmity of the de- 
generate heart. 



ON RELIGIOUS RETIREMENT. 

It is difficult to speak on the subject of Religious 
Retirement. I am fully persuaded that most religious 
tradesmen are defective in this duty, those especially 
in this great city. I tell every one of them so with 
whom I am intimately acquainted, and thhy all contest 
the point with me. 

Yet there are some considerations, which, in my own 
private judgment concerning the thing, lead me to 
think that the religion of a great city is to be viewed in 
an aspect of its own. I say not this to those men whom 
I see endangered by the spirit of such a place. Give 
them an inch and they will take an ell. But I learn 
from it to aim at possibilities, and not to bend the bow 
till it breaks. 

I say every where and to all — " You must hold in- 
tercourse with God, or your soul will die. You must 
walk with God, or Satan will walk with you. You 
must grow in grace, or you will lose it: and you 

q2 



186 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

cannot do this, but by appropriating to this object a 
due portion of your time, and diligently employing 
suitable means." But, having said this, I leave it. I 
cannot limit and define to such men the exact way in 
which they must apply these principles, but the princi- 
ples themselves I insist on. What I ought to do my- 
self under my circumstances, I know : and what I 
ought to do were I in trade, I seem now to know : but 
what I really should do were I in trade, I know not : 
and, because I know it not, I am afraid, in telling anoth- 
er man precisely how he ought to apply this principle, 
that I should act hypocritically and pharisaically. 
Stated seasons of retirement ought to be appointed and 
religiously observed ; but the time and the measure of 
this retirement must be left to a man's own judgment 
and conscience. 

I am restrained from dogmatizing on the subject, by 
reflecting on the sort of religion which seems in fact to 
be best suited to human nature itself, and especially to 
human nature harrassed, worried, loaded, and urged as 
it is in this great city. 

But I am restrained also by another consideration. — 
Difference of character seems to stamp a holy variety 
on the operation of religious principle. Some men live 
in a spirit of prayer, who are scarcely able to fix them- 
selves steadily to the solemn act of prayer. — Our char- 
acters are so much our own, that if a man were to come 
into my family in order to form himself on my model, 
and to imitate me for a month, it might seriously injure 
him. I have a favorite walk of twenty steps in my 
study and chamber : that walk is my oratory : but, if 
another man were obliged to walk as he prayed, it is 
very probable he could not pray at all. 



REMAINS OF MR, CECIL. 187 

In defining the operation of religious principle, I am 
afraid of becoming an Albert Durer. Albert Durer 
gave rules for forming the perfect figure of a man. He 
marked and defined all the relations and proportions. 
Albert Durer's man became the model of perfection in 
every Academy in Europe : and now every Academy 
in Europe has abandoned it, because no such figure 
was ever found in nature. I am afraid of reducing the 
variety which, to a certain degree, may be of God' s own 
forming, to my notion of perfection. " You must main- 
tain and cultivate a spirit of devotion" — I say to all : 
" but be ye judges, as conscientious men, of the parti- 
cular means suited to your circumstances." 

The spirit of devotion should be our great aim. 
We are, indeed, buried in sense, and cannot possibly 
attain or improve this spirit, but by proper means : yet 
these means are to be adapted and varied to character 
and situation. 

" I must walk with God. In some way or other, 
whatever be my character or profession, I must acquire 
the holy habit of connecting every thing that passes in 
my house and affairs, with God. If sickness or health 
visit my family, my eye must see and my heart must 
acknowledge the hand of God therein. Whether my 
affairs move on smoothly or ruggedly, God must be ac- 
knowledged in them. If 1 go out of my house or come 
into it, I must go out and come in as under the eye of 
God. If 1 am occupied in business all day long, 1 must 
still have the glory of God in my view. If 1 have any 
affair to transact with another, I must pray that God 
would be with us in thai affair, lest we should blunder, 
and injure and ruin each other. " 



188 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

This is the language of a real Christian. But instead 
of such a spirit as this among the great body of trades- 
men professing themselves religious — what do we see 
but a driving, impetuous pursuit of the world ! — and, in 
this pursuit, not seldom — mean, low, suspicious, yea, 
immoral practices ! 

Yet I once went to a friend for the express purpose 
of calling him out into the world. I said to him — " It 
is your duty to accept the loan of ten thousand pounds, 
and to push yourself forward into an ampler -sphere." 
But he was a rare character : and his case was rare. 
His employers had said, " We are ashamed you should 
remain so long a servant in our house, with the whole 
weight of affairs on you. We wish you to enter as a 
principal with us, and will advance you ten thousand 
pounds. It is the custom of the city — it is your due — 
we are dissatisfied to see you in your present sphere." 
I assured him that it appeared to me to be his duty to 
accede to the proposal. But I did not prevail. He said 
— "Sir, I have often heard from you that it is no easy 
thing to get to heaven. I have often heard from you 
that it is no easy thing to master the world. I have ev- 
ery thing I wish. More would encumber me — increase 
my difficulties — and endanger me." 



Solitude shows us what we should be : Society 
shows us what we are, Yet, in the theory, solitude 
shows us our true character better than society. A man 
in his closet will find nature putting herself forth in act- 
ings, which the presence of others would restrain him 
from bringing into real effect. She schemes and she 
wishes, here, without reserve. She is pure nature. An 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 189 

enlightened and vigilant self-observer is surprised and 
alarmed. He puts himself on his guard. He goes 
forth armed into the world. But society shows him that 
nature is practically evil. The circumstances of the 
day as they arise carry him aw r ay. If he could ab- 
stract himself, and follow the actings of his own mind 
with an impartial eye, he could not believe himself to 
be the man who had entered into the world with such 
holy resolutions. 



Recollection is the life of religion. The Christian 
wants to know no new thing, but to have his heart el- 
evated more above the world by secluding himself from 
it as much as his duties will allow, that religion may 
effect this its great end by bringing its sublime hopes 
and prospects into more steady action on the mind. 



I know not how it is, that some Christians can make 
so little of recollection and retirement. I find the spirit 
of the world a strong assimilating principle. I find it 
hurrying my mind away in its vortex, and sinking me 
among the dregs and filth of carnal nature. Even my 
ministerial employments would degenerate into a mere 
following of my trade and crying of my wares. I am 
obliged to withdraw myself regularly, and to say to my 
heart, " What are you doing ? — Where are you ?" 



on a spiritual mind. 



Dr. Owen says, if a man of a carnal mind is brougbl 
into a large company, he will have much to do : if into 
a company of Christians, he will feel little interest : it in- 



190 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

to a smaller company engaged in religious exercises, he 
will feel still less : but if taken into a closet and forced 
to meditate on God and eternity, this will be insupport- 
able ! 

The spiritual man is born, as it were, into a new 
world. He has a new taste. He savors the things 
of the Spirit. He turns to God, as the needle to the 
pole. 

This is a subject of which many can understand but 
little. They want spiritual taste. Nay, they account 
it enthusiasm. Bishop Horseley will go all the way 
with Christians into their principles : but he thinks the 
feelings and desires of a spiritual mind enthusiastical. 

There are various CHARACTERISTICS of a 
spiritual mind. 

Self Loathing is a characteristic of such a mind. 
The axe is laid to the root of a vain-glorious spirit. 

It maintains, too, a walk and converse with God. 
'Enoch walked with God. There is a transaction be- 
tween God and the spiritual mind : if the man feels 
dead and heartless, that is matter of complaint to God. 
He looks to God for wisdom for the day— -for the hour 
— for the business in hand. 

A spiritual mind refers its affairs to God ! " Let 
God's will be obeyed by me in this affair. His way 
may differ from that which I should choose ! but let it 
be so : Surely, I have behaved and quieted myself as 
a child that is weaned of his mother : my soul is 
even as a weaned child" 

A spiritual mind has something of the nature of the 
sensitive plant. " I shall smart if I touch this or that ■ 
There is a holy shrinking away from evil. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 191 

A spiritual mind enjoys, at times, the influx of a 
holy joy and satisfaction, which surprises even itself. 
When bereaved of creature comforts, it can sometimes 
find such a repose in Christ and his promises, that the 
man can say, " Well ! it is enough : let God take from 
me what else lie pleases !" 

A spiritual mind is a mortified mind. The church 
of Rome talks much of mortification, but her mortifica- 
tion is not radical and spiritual. Simon Stylites will 
willingly mortify himself on his pillar, if he can bring 
people around him to pray to him, to pray for them. 
But the spiritual mind must mortify itself in whatever 
would retard its ascent toward heaven ; it must rise on 
the wings of faith, and hope, and love. 

A spiritual mind is an ingenuous mind. There is a 
sort of hypocrisy in us all. We are not quite stripped 
of all disguise. One man warps round him a covering 
of one kind, and another of another. They, who think 
they do not this, yet do it though they know it not. 

Yet this spiritual mind is a sublime mind. It has a 
vast and extended view. It has seen the glory and 
beauty of Christ and cannot therefore admire the goodly 
buildings of the temple : as Christ, says Fenelon, had 
seen his Father's house, and could not therefore be 
taken with the glory of the earthly structure ! 

I would urge young persons, when they are staggered 
by the conversation of people of the world, to dwell on 
the characteristics of a spiritual mind. " If you cannot 
answer their arguments, yet mark their spirit : and 
mark what a contrary spirit that is which you are call- 
ed to cultivate." 

There are various MEANS of maintaining and pro- 



192 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

moting a spiritual mind. Beware of saying concern- 
ing this or that evil, Is it not a little one ? Much de- 
pends on mortifying the body. There are silent 
marches which the flesh will steal on us : — the temper 
is too apt to rise : the tongue will let itself loose : the 
imagination, if liberty is given to it, will hurry us away. 
Vain company will injure the mind : carnal professors 
of religion especially will lower its tone : we catch a 
contagion from such men. Misemployment of time is 
injurious to the mind : when reflecting, in illness, on my 
past years, I have looked back with self reproach on 
days spent in my study : I was wading through history, 
and poetry, and monthly journals ; but I was in my 
study ! Another man's trifling is notorious to all observ- 
ers : but what am I doing ? — Nothing, perhaps, that 
has a reference to the spiritual good of my congrega- 
tion ! I do not speak against a chastised attention to 
literature, but the abuse of it. Avoid all idleness : ex- 
ercise thyself tint o godliness; plan for God. Be- 
ware of temptation : the mind, which has dwelt on sin- 
ful objects, will be in darkness for days. Associate 
with spiritually-minded men : the very sight of a good 
man, though he says nothing, will refresh the soul. Con- 
template Christ : be much in retirement and prayer : 
study the honor and glory of your Master. 



ON DECLENSION IN RELIGION. 

A Christian may decline far in religion, without be- 
ing suspected. He may maintain appearances. Every 
thing seems to others to go on well. He suspects him- 
self ; for it requires great labor to maintain appear- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 193 

ances : especially in a minister. Discerning hearers 
will, however, often detect such declensions. He talks 
over his old matters. He says his things, but in a cold 
and unfeeling manner. He is sound, indeed, in doc- 
trine ; perhaps more sound than before ; for there is a 
great tendency to soundness of doctrine, when appear- 
ances are to be kept up in a declining state of the heart. 

Where a man has real grace, it may be part of a 
dispensation toward him that he is suffered to decline. 
He walked carelessly. He was left to decline, that he 
might be brought to feel his need of vigilance. If he is 
indulging a besetting sin, it may please God to expose 
him, especially if he is a high spirited man, that he may 
hang down his head as long as he lives. He acted thus 
toward David and Hezekiah. But this is pulling down 
in order to build up again. 

The CAUSES of a decline in religion should be 
remarked. 

The world has always much to do in religious declen- 
sion. A minister is tempted, perhaps, to sacrifice ev- 
ery thing to a name. If any appetite is suffered to 
prevail, it will stupify the mind : religion is an abstract 
and elevated affair : The way of life above is to the 
wise, to depart from hell beneath. Keeping on good 

TERMS WITH THOSE WHO RESPECT US, IS a Snare. A SPE- 
CULATIVE turn of mind is a snare : it leads to that evil 
heart of unbeliefs which departs from the living 
God. Vain confidence thinks himself in no danger : 
he knows the truth: lie can dispute for the truth: 
" What should we fear ?" Why, that we have no fear. 
Trifling with conscience is a snare : no man in- 
dulges himself in any thing which his conscience (ells 

R 



194 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

him ought not to be done, but it will at length wear 
away his spirituality of mind. 

The SYMPTOMS of a religious decline are many : 

When a minister begins to depart from God, and to 
lose a spiritual mind, he becomes fond sometimes of 
genteel company, who can entertain him, and who 
know how to respect his character ! This genteel spirit 
is suspicious : it is associated with pride and delicacy, 
and a love of ease : in short it is the spirit of the world. 
It is the reverse of condescending to mean things : it is 
the reverse of the spirit of our Master. 

It is a symptom of decline, when a man will unne- 
cessarily expose the imperfections of the religious 
world. " Such a man," he will say, " is fond of pray- 
ing ; but he is fond of money." This is the very op- 
posite spirit to that of St. Paul, who speaks even weep- 
ing of those who mind earthly things, 

A violent sectarian spirit is a sign of religious de- 
clension. Honest men stand firm for the vitals of reli- 
gion. If the mind were right, the circumstantials of 
religion would not be made matters of fierce contention. 
The spirit of St. Paul was of another kind. If meat 
nalce my brother to offend, I ivill eat no meat while 
the ivorld standeth, lest I ?nake my brother to offend 
— One believeth that he ?nay eat all things : another, 
who is weak, eateth he?~bs. Let not him, that eat- 
eth, despise him that eateth not ; and let not him, 
which eateth not, judge him that eateth. 



Aversion from reproof marks a state of religious 
decline. The man cannot bear to have his state de- 
picted, even in the pulpit. He calls the preaching, 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 195 

which searches and detects him, Arminian and legal. 
Hast thou found me, mine enemy ? Why should 
he quarrel with the truth ? If that truth is delivered in 
its just proportions, his quarrel is with God ! 

Stupidity under chastisement proves a man to be 
under declension. He is not disposed to ask., Where- 
fore dost thou contend with me ? He is kicking 
against the pricks. He is stricken, but has not 
grieved. He is chastised, as a bullock unaccustom- 
ed to the yoke. 

Such a man, too, has often a high mind. He is un- 
humbled — boasting — stout-hearted. He is ready to 
censure every one but himself. 

Unnecessary occupation is another evidence of de- 
clension. Some men are unavoidably much engaged 
in the world : To such men God will give especial 
grace, if they seek it ; and they shall maintain a shirit 
of devotion even in the bustle and occupation of their 
affairs. But some men will be rich, and therefore fall 
into temptation and a snare ; they will have shops in 
different parts of the town : they say they do not feel 
this affect their religious state ; but I cannot believe 
them : a man is declined from God before he enters on 
such schemes : a spiritual and devout man will gener- 
ally find the business in which he is already engaged a 
sufficient snare. 

In short, the symptoms may be this or that, but the 
disease is a dead palsy. Ephrai/n ! — he hath mixed 
himself among tJte people : Ephra'nn is a cuke not 
turned. Strangers have devoured his strength, and 
he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and 
there upon him, yet he knoweth it not. 



196 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

ON A CHRISTIAN'S ASSOCIATING WITH IRRELIGIOUS PER- 
SONS FOR THEIR GOOD. 

Christ is an example to us of entering into mixed 
society. But our imitation of him herein must admit of 
restrictions. A feeble man must avoid danger. If any- 
one could go into society as Christ did. then let him 
go : let him attend marriage-feasts and Pharisees 1 
houses. 

Much depends on a Christian's observing his call — 
the openings which Providence may make before him. 
Ir is not enough to say that he frequents public com- 
pany in order to retard the progress of evil. 

But, when in company of people of the world, we 
should treat them kindly and tenderly — with feeling 
and compassion. They should be assisted, if they are 
inclined to receive assistance. But if a Christian falls 
into the society of a mere worldling, it must be like 
the meeting of two persons in a rain — they will part as 
soon as possible. If a man loves such company, it is 
an evil symptom. 

It is a Christian's duty to maintain a kind intercourse, 
if practicable, with his relatives. And he must duly 
appreciate their state : if not religious, they cannot 
see and feel and taste his enjoyments : they accommo- 
date themselves to him, and he accommodates himself 
to them. It is much a matter of accommodation on 
both sides. 

Avoid disgusting such friends unnecessarily. 
A precise man, for instance, must be humored. Your 
friends set down your religion, perhaps, as a case of 
humor. 






REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 197 

Cultivate good sense. If your friends perceive 
you weak in any part of your views and conduct, they 
will think you weak in your religion. 

Avoid vain jangling. There is a disposition in 
such friends to avoid important and pinching truth. If 
you will converse with them on the subject of religion, 
they will often endeavor to draw you on* to such points 
as predestination. They will ask you what you think 
of the salvation of infants and of the heathen. All this 
is meant to throw out the great question. 

Seize favorable occasions — not only the " mollia 
temjjora fandi /" but when public characters and pub- 
lic events furnish occasions of profitable reflection. 
Bring before your friends the extreme childishness 
of a sinful state. Treat worldly amusements as pue- 
rile things. People of the world are sick at heart of 
their very pleasures 



ON THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

It belongs to our very relation to God, to set apart 
a portion of our time for his service : but, as it might 
have been difficult for conscience to determine what 
that portion should be, God has prescribed it : and the 
ground of the observance remains the same, whether 
the remembrance of God's resting from his work, or 
any other reason, be assigned as the more immediate 
cause. 

The Jewish Sabbath was partly of political institu- 
tion, and partly of moral obligation. So tar as it was 
a political appointment, designed to preserve the Jews 
distinct from other nations, it is abrogated : so tar as it 
was of moral obligation, it remains in force. 

r2 



198 REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 

Our Lord evidently designed to relax the strictness 
of the observance. Christianity is not a hedge placed 
round a peculiar people. A slave might enter into the 
spirit of Christianity, though obliged to work as a slave 
on the sabbath : he might be in the Spirit on the 
Lord's day, though in the mines of Patmos. 

Difficulties often arise in respect to the observance of 
the Sabbath. I tell conscientious persons, " If you 
have the spirit of Christianity, and are in an employ- 
ment contrary to Christianity, you will labor to escape 
from it, and God will open your way." If such a man's 
heart be right, he will not throw himself out of his em- 
ployment the first day he suspects himself to be wrong, 
but he will pray and wait till his way shall be opened 
before him. 

Christ came not to abolish the Sabbath, but to explain 
and enforce it, as he did the rest of the law. Its ob- 
servance was no where positively enjoined by him, be- 
cause Christianity was to be practicable, and was to go 
into all nations : and it goes thither stripped of its pre- 
cise and various circumstances. I was in the spirit 
on the Lord's day, seems to be the soul of the Christi- 
an Sabbath. 

In this view of the day, a thousand frivolous questions 
concerning its observance would be answered. " What 
can I do ?" says one : I answer, " Do what true serv- 
ants of God will do. Bend not to what is wrong. Be 
in the spirit. God will help you." 

In short, we are going to spend a Sabbath in eternity. 
The Christian will acquire as much of the Sabbath spirit 
as he can. And in proportion to a man's real piety in 
every age of the church, he will be found to have been 
a diligent observer of the Sabbath day. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 199 



ON JUDGING JUSTLY. 

A perfectly just and sound mind is a rare and in- 
valuable gift. But it is still much more unusual to see 
such a mind unbiassed in all its actings. God has given 
this soundness of mind but to few ; and a very small 
number of those few escape the bias of some predilec- 
tion, perhaps habitually operating ; and none are at all 
times and perfectly free. I once saw this subject forci- 
bly illustrated. A watchmaker told me that a gentle- 
man had put an exquisite watch into his hands, that 
went irregularly. It was as perfect a piece of work as 
was ever made. He took it to pieces and put it togeth- 
er again twenty times. No manner of defect was to be 
discovered, and yet the watch went intolerably. At 
last it struck him, that, possibly, the balance-wheel 
might have been near a magnet. On applying a needle 
to it, he found his suspicions true. Here was all the 
mischief. The steel work in the other parts of the 
watch had a perpetual influence on its motions ; and 
the watch went as well as possible with a new wheel. 
If the soundest mind be magnetized by any predilec- 
tion, it must act irregularly. 



Prejudice is often the result of such strong associa- 
tions, that it acts involuntarily, in spite of conviction 
and resolution. The first step toward its eradication, 
is the persevering habit of presenting it to the mind in 
its true colors. 



If a man will look at most of his prejudices, he will 
find that they arise from his field of view being n< 



200 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

sarily narrow like the eye of the fly. He can have but 
little better notions of the whole scheme of things, as 
has been well said, than a fly on the pavement of St. 
Paul's cathedral can have of the whole structure. He 
is offended, therefore, by inequalities which are lost in 
the grand design. This persuasion will fortify him 
against many injurious and troublesome prejudices. 



Just judgment depends on the simplicity and the 
strength of the mind. The eye which conveys a per- 
fect idea of the scene to the mind, must be unclouded 
and strong. If the mental eye be not single, the judg- 
ment will be warped by some little, mean and selfish in- 
terests ; and, if it be not capable of a wide and distant 
range, the decision will be partial and imperfect. For 
example : a man, with either of these failings, will be 
likely to blind his eyes from the conviction, that would 
dart on him, when he places a son or a friend in any 
sphere of influence, because he is his son or his friend ; 
when a single or a strong eye would show him that the 
interests of religion and truth required him to prefer 
some other person. The mind must be raised above 
the petty interests and affairs of life, and pursue su- 
premely the glory of God and the church. 



Some minds are so diseased, that they can see an af- 
fair only in that light, in which passion or predilection 
first presented it, or as it appears on the surface. The 
essence, the truth of the thing, which must give char- 
acter to the whole, and on which all just decision must 
depend, may lie beneath the surface, and may be a nice 
affair. But sucji minds cannot enter into it. It is as 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 201 

though I should try to convince such persons — allowing 
me that the pineal gland is the seat of the soul — that, 
however fair and perfect the form, the man wanted the 
essence of his being, in wanting that apparently insig- 
nificant part of his body. Such men would say, " here 
is a striking and perfect form — all parts are harmonious 
—life animates the frame — the machine plays admirably 
— what lias this little insignificant member to do with 
it ?" And yet this is the essential and characterizing 
part of the man. 



Every man has a peculiar turn of mind, which gives 
a coloring and tinge to his thoughts. I have particular- 
ly detected this in myself with respect to public af- 
fairs. I have such an immediate view of God acting 
in them, that all the great men, who make such a noise 
and bustle on the scene, seem to me like so many 
mere puppets. God is moving them all, to effect his 
own designs. They cannot advance a step, whither he 
does not lead : nor stand a moment where he does not 
place them. Now this is a view of things, which it is 
my privilege to take as a Christian. But the evil lies 
here. I dwell so much on the view of the matter, to 
which the turn of my mind leads me, that I forget 
sometimes the natural tendencies of things. God uses 
all things, but not so as to destroy their natural tenden- 
cies. They are good or evil, according to their o\\ n na- 
nature; not according to the use which he makes of them: 



The mind has a constant tendency to conform itself 
to the sentiments and cast of thinking with which it is 
chiefly conversant, either among books or men. If the 






202 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

influence remain undetected, it grows soon into an in- 
veterate habit of obliquity. Even if it be detected, it 
is the most difficult thing in the world to bring back 
the mind to the standard, especially if there be any thing 
in its constitution which assimilates itself to the error. 
I was once much in the habit of reading the mystical 
writers: a book of Dr. Owen's clearly convinced me 
that they erred : yet I found my mind ever inclining to- 
ward them, and winding round like the biassed bowl. 
I saw clearly the absurdity of the notions in their view 
of them, and yet I was ever talking of " self-annihila- 
tion," &c, and am not even now rid of the thing. 



ON THE CHARACTER OF ST. PAUL. 

I delight to contemplate St. Paul as an appointed 
pattern. Men might have questioned the propriety of 
urging on them the example of Christ — they might have 
said that we are necessarily in dissimilar circumstances. 
But St. Paul stands up in like case with ourselves — a 
model of ministerial virtues. 

We consider him^ perhaps, in point of character more 
the immediate subject of extraordinary inspiration, than 
he was in reality. And this mistake affects our view of 
him in two different ways. 

We suppose, at one time, that his virtues were so 
much the effect of extraordinary communications, that 
he is no proper model for us : whereas he was no farth- 
er fitted to his circumstances than every Christian has 
warrant to expect to be, so far as his circumstances are 
similar. 

At another time, perhaps, though we acknowledge 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 203 

and revere his distinguished character, yet our view of 
his virtues is exalted beyond due measure. We should 
remember, that, as he was fitted for his circumstances ; 
so he was, in a great degree; made by them. Many 
men are, doubtless, executing their appointed task in 
retirement and silence, who would unfold a character 
beyond all expectation, if Providence were to lead them 
into a scene where the world rose up in arms, and they 
were sent forth into it under a clear conviction of an es- 
pecial mission. The history of the church seems to 
show us that the effects of grace, ordinary or extraordi- 
nary, have been the same in all ages. 



In speaking of St. Paul, it has been usual to magnify 
his learning, among the many other great qualities which 
he possessed. That point seems never to have been sa- 
tisfactorily made out. He was an educated Pharisee ; 
but, farther than this, I think we cannot go. His quo- 
tations from the Greek Poets, are not evidences of even 
a school boy's learning in our day : for we forget, when 
we talk of them, that he was a Roman quoting Greek. 
Nor do I see any thing more in his famous speech in 
the Areopagus, so often produced as evidence on this 
subject, than the line of argument to which a strong 
and energetic mind would lead him. If we talk of his 
talents, indeed, he rises almost beyond admiration : but 
they were talents of a certain order ; and the very dis- 
play which we have of them seems a strong corrobor- 
ative proof, that he is not to be considered as a pro- 
foundly learned man of his day. For instance, had he 
studied Aristotle, it would have been almost impossi 
but he must have caught some influence, which we 



204 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

should have seen in his writings. But there is nothing 
like the dry, logical,, metaphysical character of that 
school : which yet had then given the law to the seats 
of science and philosophy. Instead of this, we see 
every where the copious, diffusive, declaiming, discurs- 
ive ; but sublime, and wise, and effective mind. 



There is a true apostolicism in the character of St. 
Paul. It is a combination of zeal and love. 

The zeal of some men is of a haughty, unbending, fe- 
rocious character. They have the letter of truth, but 
they mount the pulpit like prize-fighters. It is with 
them a perpetual scold. This spirit is a reproach to the 
gospel. It is not the spirit of Jesus Christ. He seems 
to have labored to win men. 

But there is an opposite extreme. The love of some 
men is all milk and mildness ! There is so much deli- 
cacy, and so much fastidiousness ! They touch with 
so much tenderness ! — and if the patient shrinks they, 
will touch no more ! The times are too flagrant for such 
a disposition. The Gospel is sometimes preached in this 
way, till all the people agree with the preacher. He 
gives no offence, and he does no good ! 

But St. Paul united and blended love and zeal. He 
must win souls : but he will labor to do this by all pos- 
sible lawful contrivances. I am made all things to 
all men, that I might by all means save some. Zeal, 
alone, may degenerate into ferociousness and brutality ; 
and love, alone, into fastidiousness and delicacy : but 
the apostle combined both qualities : and, more per- 
fectly than other men, realized the union of t\\e fortiter 
in re with the suaviter in modo. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 205 



MISCELLANIES. 



The Moravians seem to have very nearly hit on 
Christianity. They appear to have found out what sort 
of a thing it is — its quietness — meekness — patience — 
spirituality — heavenliness — and order. But they want 
fire. A very superior woman among them once said to 
me— that there wanted another body, the character of 
which should be combined from the Moravians and 
the Methodists. The Moravians have failed in making 
too little of preaching ; as the Methodists have done, in 
making too much of it. 



The grandest operations, both in nature and in 
grace, are the most silent and imperceptible. The 
shallow brook babbles in its passage, and is heard by 
every one : but the coming on of the seasons is silent 
and unseen. The storm rages and alarms ; but its fury 
is soon exhausted, and its effects are partial and soon 
remedied : but the dew, though gentle and unheard, is 
immense in quantity, and the very life of large por- 
tions of the earth. And these are pictures of the ope- 
rations of grace, in the church and in the soul. 



Atheism is a characteristic of our duty. On the sen- 
timents, manners, pursuits, amusements, and dealings 
of the great body of mankind, there is written in broad 
characters — without God in the irorld ! 



1 have often had occasion to observe, thai a warm 
blundering man does more tor the world than a frigid 
wise man. A man, who gets into a habit of inquiring 

s 



206 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

about proprieties and expediencies and occasions, often 
spends his life without doing any thing to purpose. The 
state of the world is such, and so much depends on ac- 
tion, that every thing seems to say loudly to every man, 
" Do something " — " do it " — " do it.*' 



Providence is a greater mystery than religion. The 
state of the world is more humiliating to our reason, 
than the doctrines of the Gospel. A reflecting Chris- 
tian sees more to excite his astonishment and to exercise 
his faith in the state of things between Temple Bar and 
St. Paul's, than in what he reads from Genesis to Re- 
velation. See the description of the working of God's 
Providence, in the account of the cherubims in the first 
and tenth chapters of Ezekiel. 



The scheme and machinery of redemption may be 
illustrated by the water-works at Marly. We consider 
a part of that complicated machinery, and we cannot 
calculate on the effects ; but we see that they are pro- 
duced. W e cannot explain to a philosopher the system 
of redemption, and the mode of conducting and com- 
municating its benefits to the human soul ; but we know 
that it yields the water of life — civilization, to a barba- 
rian — direction to a wanderer — support, to those that 
are ready to perish. 



It is manifest that God designed to promote inter- 
course and commerce among men, by giving to each 
climate its appropriate productions. It is in itself, not 
only innocent, but laudable. All trade, however, which 
is founded in embellishment, is founded in depravity. 






REMAINS OF MR, CECIL. 207 

So also is that spirit of trade, which pushes men on dan- 
gerous competitions. Many tradesmen, professedly 
religious, seem to look on their trade as a vast engine, 
which will be worked to no good effect, if it be not 
worked with the whole vigor of the soul. This is an 
intoxicating and ruinous mistake. So far as they live 
under the power of religion, they will pursue their trade 
for sustenance and provision ; but not even that, with 
unseasonable attention and with eagerness : much less 
will religion suffer them to bury themselves in it, when 
its objects are something beyond these : and, least of 
all, will it leave them to deceive themselves with certain 
commercial maxims, so far removed from simplicity and 
integrity that I have been often shocked beyond meas- 
ure, at hearing them countenanced and adopted by some 
religious professors. 



Every man should aim to do one thing well. If lie 
dissipates his attention on several objects he may have 
excellent talents intrusted to him, but they will be in- 
trusted to no good end. Concentrated on his proper 
object, they might have a vast energy ; but, dissipated 
on several, they will have none. Let other objects be 
pursued, indeed ; but only so far as they may subserve 
the main purpose. By neglecting this rule, I have seen 
frivolity, and futility written on minds of great power ; 
and, by regarding it I have seen very limited minds 
acting in the first rank of their professsion — I have seen 
a large capital and a great stock dissipated, and the 
man reduced to beggary ; and I have seen a small 
capital and stock improved to great riches. 



208 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

To effect any purpose, in study, the mind must be 
concentrated. If any other subject plays on the fancy, 
than that which ought to be exclusively before it, the 
mind is divided ; and both are neutralized, so as to 
lose their effect. Just as when I learnt two systems of 
short-hand. I was familiar with Gurney's method, and 
wrote it w r ith ease ; but, when I took it it into my head 
to learn Byrom's, they destroyed each other, and I could 
write neither. 



There should be something obvious, determinate, 
and positive, in a man's reasons for taking a journey ; 
especially if he be a minister. Such events and conse- 
quences may be connected with it in every step, that 
he ought, in no case, to be more simply dependant on 
the great Appointer of means and occasions. Several 
journies w T hich I thought myself called on to take, I have 
since had reason to think I should not have taken. Ne- 
gative, and even doubtful reasons, may justify him in 
choosing the safer side of staying at home ; but there 
ought to be something more in the reasons which put. 
him out of his way, to meet the unknown consequences 
of a voluntary change of station. Let there always be a 
" because" to meet the " why ?" 



I sometimes see, as I sit in my pew at St. John's 
during the service, an idle fellow saunter into the 
chapel. He gapes about him for a few minutes ; finds 
nothing to interest and arrest him ; seems scarcely to 
understand what is going forward ; and, after a lounge 
or two, goes out again. I look at him, and think, " Thou 
a w r onderful creature ! A perfect miracle ! What a 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 209 

machine is that body ! — curiously, — fearfully, — won- 
derfully framed ! An intricate — delicate — but harmo- 
nious and perfect structure ! And, then, to ascend to 
thy soul ! — its nature ! — its capacities ! — its actual 
state ! — its designation ! — its eternal condition ! 1 am 
lost in amazement ! — while he seems to have no more 
consciousness of all this than the brutes that perish !" 



Sin, pursued to its tendencies, would pull God from 
throne. Though I have a deep conviction of its exceed- 
ing sinfulness, I live not a week without seeing some 
exhibition of its malignity which draws from me — 
" Well ! who could have imagined this !" Sin would 
subjugate heaven, earth, and hell to itself. It would 
make the universe the minion of its lusts, and all beings 
bow down and worship. 



It is one of the most awful points of view in which 
we can consider God, that, as a righteous governor of 
world, concerned to vindicate his own glory, he. has 
laid himself under a kind of holy necessity to purify the 
unclean, or to sink hiin into perdition. 



It is one of the curses of error, that the man, who is 
the subject of it, if he has had the opportunity of being 
better informed, cannot possibly do right, so far as he is 
under it. He has brought himself into an utter inca- 
pacity of acting virtuously ; since it is vicious to obey 
an ill-informed conscience, if that conscience might 
have been better informed ; and certainly vicious to 
disobey conscience, whether it be well or ill informed. 

62 



210 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

The approaches of sin are like the conduct of Jael. 
It brings butter in a lordly dish. It bids high for 
the soul. But when it has fascinated and lulled the 
victim., the nail and the hammer are behind. 



I have met with one case in my ministry, very fre- 
quent and very distressing. A man says to me, " I ap- 
prove all you say. I see things to be just as you state 
them. I see a necessity, a propriety, a beauty in the 
religion of Christ. I see it to be interesting and import- 
ant. But I do not feel it. I cannot feel it. I have no 
spirit of prayer. My heart belies my head : its affec- 
tions refuse to follow my convictions." If this com- 
plaint be ingenuous, it is an evidence of grace ; and I 
say, " Wait for God, and he will appear." But, too 
often, it is not ingenuous : the heart is actually indis- 
posed : some tyrant holds it in bondage. The com- 
plaint is a mockery — because there is no sincerity of 
endeavor to obtain the object of which it pretends to 
lament the want — there is no sincere desire and pray- 
er for the quickening and breathing of God's Holy 
Spirit on the torpid soul. 

The man who labors to please his neighbor for his 
good to edification, has the mind that was in Christ. 
It is a sinner trying to help a sinner. How different 
the face of things if this spirit prevailed ! — If Dissent- 
ers were like Henry, and Watts, and Doddridge : and 
churchmen like Leighton ! The man who comes pro- 
minently forward in any way may expect to be found 
fault with : one will call him harsh, and another a trim- 
mer. A hard man may be reverenced, but men will 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 211 

like him best at a distance : he is an iron man : he is 
not like Jesus Christ : Christ might have driven Thomas 
from his presence for his unreasonable incredulity — but 
not so ! It is as though he had said, " I will come 
down to thy weakness : if thou canst not believe with- 
out thrusting thy hand into my side, then thrust in thy 
hand." Even a feeble, but kind and tender man, will 
effect more than a genius, who is rough or artificial. 
There is danger, doubtless, of humoring others, and 
against this we must be on our guard. It is a kind and 
accommodating spirit at which we must aim. When 
the two goats met on the bridge which was too narrow 
to allow them either to pass each other, or to return, the 
goat which lay down that the other might walk over 
him, was a finer gentleman than Lord Chesterfield. 



To expect disease wherever he goes, and to lay him- 
self out in the application of remedies, is that habit of 
mind which is best suited to a Christian while he passes 
through the world, if he would be most effectually 
useful. 



The Papists and Puritans erred in opposite extremes, 
in their treatment of mankind. The Papists, almost 
to a man, considered the mass of men as mere animals, 
and to be led by the senses. Even Fenelon fell into 
this way of thinking. Some few fine spirits were to be 
found, which were capable of other treatment : but the 
herd they thought capable of nothing but seeing and 
hearing. The Puritans, on the contrary, treated man 
as though he had nothing of the animal about him. 
There was among them a total excision of all amuse- 



212 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

merit and recreation. Every thing was effort. Every- 
thing was severe. I have heard a man of this school 
preach on the distinction between justifying and saving 
faith. He tried to make his hearers enter into these 
niceties ; whereas, faith in its bold and leading features, 
should have been presented to them, if any effect was 
expected. The bulk of mankind are capable of much 
more than the Papist allows, but are incapable of that 
which the Puritan supposes. They should be treated 
in opposition to both, as rational and feeling creatures 
but upon a bold and palpable ground. 



I have seen such sin in the church, that I have been 
often brought by it too a sickly state of mind. But, 
when I have turned to the world, I have seen sin work- 
ing there in such measures and forms, that I have turn- 
ed back again to the church with more wisdom of mind 
and more affection to it — tainted as it is. I see sin, 
however, no where put on such an odious appearance as 
in the church. It mixes itself with the most holy things, 
and debases them, and turns them to its own purposes. 
It builds its nest in the very pinnacles of the temple. 
The history of the primitive ages of the church has also 
checked the disgust which would arise from seeing the 
impure state of things before our eyes. Folly and 
wickedness sported themselves even then in almost all 
possible forms. I turn, in such states of mind, to two 
portraits in my study — John Bradford and Aph. Leigh- 
ton. These never fail, in such cases, to speak forcibly 
to my heart, that, in the midst of all, there is pure re- 
ligion, and to tell me what that religion is. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 213 

The joy of religion is an exorcist to the mind. It ex- 
pels the demons of carnal mirth and madness. 



The union of Christians to Christ, their common 
head ; and, by means of the influence which they derive 
from him, one to another, may be illustrated by the 
loadstone. It not only attracts the particles of iron to 
itself, by the magnetic virtue ; but by this virtue, it 
unites them one among another. 



Some considerable defect is always visible, in the 
greatest men, to a discerning eye. We idolize the 
best characters, because we see them partially. Let us 
acknowledge excellence, and ascribe the glory where it 
is due, while we honor the possessor : but le tus remem- 
ber that God has, by leaving his greatest servants to 
the natural operation of human frailty in some point or 
other of their character written on the face of the Chris- 
tian Church, Cease ye from man ! He does, by per- 
fection in character, as he did by the body of Moses — 
he hides it, that it may not be idolized. Our affections, 
our prejudices, or our ignorance, cover the creature 
with a dazzling veil : but he lifts it up ; and seems to 
say, " see the creature you admire !" 



A man, who thinks himself to have attained Christian 
perfection, in the sense in which it has been insisted on 
by some persons, either deceives himself, by calling sin, 
infirmity — or Satan leaves him undisturbed in false se- 
curity — or the demon of pride overcomes the demon of 
lust. 



214 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

The trials of the tempted Christian are often sent 
for the use of others, and are made the riches of all 
around him. 



If I were not penetrated with a conviction of the truth 
of the Bible, and the reality of my own experience. I 
should be confounded on all sides — from within, and 
from without — in the world, and in the church. 



If a good man cannot prevent evil, he will hang 
heavy on its wings, and retard its progress. 



We are too much disposed to look at the outside of 
things. The face of every affair chiefly affects us. 
Were God to draw aside the veil, and to shew us but 
a little of the reality, and the relations of the most ap- 
parently mysterious and complicated dispensations, we 
should acquiesce with reverence and admiration. A 
minister, for example, may be taken away in the begin- 
ning of a promising career, or in the midst of great use- 
fulness. If we cannot perceive any direct reason for 
this Providence, we stand amazed. But, if we could 
look forward into the farther life of such men, we should 
probably see that they were taken away in mercy to 
themselves — to the church — or to the world. 



I have seen too much of life, to have any thing to do 
in the troubled waters of my friends, by way of giving 
advice ; unless they will allow me to remain in secret. 
This especially applies to some Christians of more sin- 
cerity than prudence. An opinion given on difficult and 
controverted cases, in confidence of its being used only 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 215 

as a private principle of action, has been quoted as au- 
thority in defence of the conduct founded on it. 



Many duties are involved on the very nature of reli- 
gion, concerning which there is perhaps not one express 
precept to be found in the Scriptures. Private, family, 
or public devotions, are no where enjoined, as to the 
time, or frequency, or manner of performing them. Yet 
they are so strongly implied in the very nature of reli- 
gion, and they are supposed so necessarily to flow from 
the divine principle of spiritual life in the soul, that those 
men greatly err, who think themselves not obliged by 
their religion to the most diligent use of them that cir- 
cumstances will allow. And, surely, we may trace here 
the footsteps of divine wisdom. If it had been said, 
" Thou shalt do this or that, at such and such times," 
this would have brought a yoke on the neck of the Chris- 
tian ; and, even when absolutely unavoidable circum- 
stances prevented him from complying with the injunc- 
tion, would have left sin on his conscience. While the 
way in which the duty is enforced leaves him a Chris- 
tian liberty that is abundantly guarded against all licen- 
tiousness. He sees the duty implied and exemplified in 
a thousand instances throughout the Scripture. The 
same principle is applicable to certain pursuits, which 
occupy the men of the world ; the general unlawfulness 
of which is fully implied, though they neither are nor 
could have been forbidden by name.* 



Nothing seems important to me but so far as it is 

e this i.i.a illustrated with regard to Articles of Faith in -Jones's 

''Short View of the Argument between the Church of England and 
l> inters,' 1 in the " Scholar Armed." Vol. ii. ]>. 5i). J. P 



216 REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 

connected with morals. The end — the cui bono ? — 
enters into my view of every thing. Even the highest 
acts of the intellect become criminal trifling, when they 
occupy much of the time of a moral creature, and es- 
pecially of a minister. If the mind cannot feel and 
treat mathematics and music and every thing else as a 
trifle, it has been seduced and enslaved. Brainerd, and 
Grimshaw, and Fletcher, were men. Most of us are 
dwarfs. 



In imitating examples, there are two rules to be re- 
garded : we must not stretch ours beyond our measure ; 
nor must we despise that in another, which is unsuita- 
ble to ourselves. 



A piece has been written to prove that the Gospel is 
preached to sinners, only in the lowest state of misery 
and imbecility. Some men get hold of an opinion, and 
push it so far that it meets and contradicts other opinions, 
fairly deducible from Scripture. And it is no uncom- 
mon thing with them to suppose, that nobody else holds 
the same opinion ; when, if they look into the minds of 
other men, they would find themselves deceived. We 
preach the Gospel to sinners in the lowest condition ; 
and the only reason I do not preach it to devils, is, 
that I find no gospel provided for devils. As to the 
Roman Catholic notion of a grace of congruity, in their 
sense of it, I utterly disclaim it. Some of the best of 
them taught that God prepared the heart for himself in 
various unseen ways. And who can deny this ? but 
this is far different from the notion, that some minds 
have a natural congruity or suitableness to the Gospel 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 217 

The fallow- ground of the heart may be broken up, 
ploughed, and prepared by unseen and most circuitous 
means. I have gone from hearing a man preach in- 
comparable nonsense who knew spiritual religion, to 
hearing a man of a carnal mind and habits who knew 
nothing of spiritual religion preach incomparable sense, 
and I thought the carnal preacher much most likely to 
call men to some feeling of religion. 



The imagination is the grand organ, whereby truth 
can make successful approaches to the mind. Some 
preachers deal much with the passions : they attack 
the hopes and fears of men. But this is a very differ- 
ent thing from the right use of the imagination, as the 
medium of impressing truth. Jesus Christ has left per- 
fect patterns of this way of managing men. — But it is a 
distinct talent, and a talent committed to very few. 
It is an easy thing to move the passions : a rude, blunt, 
illiterate attack may do this. But, to form one new 
figure for the conveyance of truth to the mind, is a diffi- 
cult thing. The world is under no small obligation to 
the man who forms such a figure. The French strain 
this point so far that the effort is continually seen. To 
be effective — there must be about it a naivete — an ease 
— a self-evidence. The figures of the French writers 
vanish from the mind, like the flourish of a musical 
band. The figures of Jesus Christ sink into the mind, 
and leave there the indelible impress of the truth which 
they convey. 



The religious world has a great momentum. Money 
and power in almost any quantity, are brought forth 

T 



2IS REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

into action, when any fair object is set before it. It is 
a pendulum that swings with prodigious force. But it 
wants a regulator. If there is no regulating force on 
it of sufficient power, its motions will be so violent and 
eccentric, that it will tear the machine to pieces. And, 
therefore, when I have any influence in its designs and 
schemes, I cannot help watching them with extreme 
jealousy, to throw in every directing and regulating 
power which can be obtained from any quarter. 

Nothing can be proposed so wild or so absurd, as 
net to find a party — and often a very large party — 
ready to espouse it. It is a sad reflection on human 
nature, but it is too true. Every day's experience and 
history confirm it. It would have argued gross ignor- 
ance of mankind to expect even Swedenborgianism to 
be rejected at once by the common sense of men. He, 
who laid the snare, knew that if a few characters of 
some learning and respectability could be brought to 
espouse it, there would be soon a silly multitude ready 
to follow. 



The religious world has many features, which are 
distressing to a holy man. He sees in it much proposal 
and ostentation, covering much surface. But Chris- 
tianity is deep and substantial. A man is soon enlisted ; 
but he is not soon made a soldier. He is easily put 
into the ranks, to make a show there : but he is not so 
easily brought to do the duties of the ranks. We are 
too much like an army of Asiatics ; they count well, and 
cut a good figure ; but when they come into action, one 
has no flint, another has no cartridge — the arms of one 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 219 

are rusty, and another has not learnt to handle them. 
This was not the complaint equally at all times. It be- 
longs too peculiarly to the present day. The fault lies 
in the muster. We are like Falstaff. He took the 
king's money to press good men and true, but got to- 
gether such ragamuffins that he was ashamed to muster 
thern. What is the consequence ? People groan un- 
der their connections. Respectable persons tell me 
such stories of their servants who profess religion, as to 
shame and distress me. High pretensions to spirituali- 
ty ! Warm zeal for certain sentiments ! Priding them- 
selves in Mr. Such-a-one's ministry ! But what be- 
comes of their duties ? — Oh these are " beggarly ele- 
ments " indeed ! Such persons are alive to religious 
talk ; but, if you speak to them on religious tempers, 
the subject grows irksome. 

Admiration and feeling are very distinct from each 
other. Some music and oratory enchant and astonish, 
but they speak not to the heart. I have been over- 
whelmed by Handel's music : the Dettingen Te Deum 
is perhaps, the greatest composition in the world: yet 
I never, in my life, heard Handel, but I could think of 
something else at the same time. There is a kind of 
music that will not allow this. Dr. Worgan has so 
touched the organ at St. John's, that I have been turning 
backward and forward over the Prayer Book for the 
first lesson in Isaiah, and wondered that I could not find 
Isaiah there ! The musician and the orator fall short of 
the full power of their science, if the hearer is left in 
possession of himself. 



220 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

The church of England is not fitted in its present 
state, for a general church. Its secularity must be 
purged away. We shall hasten that day when Chris- 
tians shall be of one heart and one mind, if we incul- , 
cate the spirit of charity in our respective circles. T 
have aimed much at this point, and shall push it farther. 
The rest must be left to Providence. He only can, by 
unknown means, heal the schisms of the church, and 
unite it together as one external body : and that this 
will be done as some think, by persecution, appears 
highly probable. I see no other means adequate to 
the end. 



Hypocrisy is folly. It is much easier, safer, and 
pleasanter, to be the thing which a man aims to appear, 
than to keep up the appearance of being what he is 
not. When a Christian is truly such he acts from a na- 
ture — a new nature — and all the actings of that nature 
have the ease and pleasantness and nature in them. 



Humiliation is the spirit of our dispensation — not a 
creeping, servile, canting humility : but an entire self- 
renunciation. The Mystics often talk admirably on 
the subject. Pride is the most universal and inveter- 
ate of all vices. Every man is a proud man, though 
all are not equally proud. No sin harrasses the Chris- 
tian so much, nor accompanies him so unweariedly. Its 
forms of exhibiting itself are infinitely varied, and none 
are more common than the affectation of humility. The 
assumption of the garb of humility, in all its shades is 
generally but an expression of a proud mind. Pride is 
the master-sin of the spirit ; and the grace of God, in 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 221 

the whole tenor of our dispensation, is directed against it. 



I extend the circle of real religion very widely. — 
Many men fear God, and love God, and have a sincere 
desire to serve him, whose views of religious truth are 
very imperfect, and in some points perhaps utterly false. 
But I doubt not that many such persons have a state of 
heart acceptable before God. 



Man is a creature of extremes. The middle path is 
generally the wise path ; but there are few wise enough 
to find it. Because Papists have made too much of 
some things, Protestants have made too little of them. 
The Papists treat man as all sense ; and, therefore, 
some Protestants would treat him as all spirit. Because 
one party has exalted the virgin Mary to a divinity, the 
other can scarcely think of that most highly favored 
among women with common respect. The Papist puts 
the Apocrypha into his canon — the Protestant will 
scarcely regard it as an ancient record. The Popish 
heresy of human merit in justification, drove Luther 
on the other side into most unwarrantable and unscrip- 
tural statements of that doctrine. The Papists consid- 
er grace as inseparable from the participation of the 
sacraments — the Protestants too often lose sight of 
them as instituted means of conveying grace. 



The language of irreligion in the heart, is, '"Give — 
give — now — now — whatever the flesh and the eye lust 
after, and whatever gratifies the pride of life. Give it 
now — for, as to any reversion, I will not sacrifice a single 
lust for it ; or, if 1 must have a religion, it shall be an \ 

t2 



222 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

thing rather than that demeaning system which makes 
every thing a mere boon." 

Instead of attempting any logical and metaphysical 
explanation of justification by the imputed righteous- 
ness of Christ, all which attempts have human infirmity 
stamped upon them, I would look at the subject in the 
great and impressive light in which scripture places it 
before me. It teaches me to regard the intervention of 
Christ for me, as the sole ground of all expectation to- 
ward God. In consideration of his sufferings, my guilt 
is remitted, and I am restored, to that which I had lost 
by sin. Let us add to this, that the sufferings of Christ 
were in our stead, and we shall see the point of view 
in which Scripture sets him forth as the deserver and 
procurer to us of all pardon and grace. The thing is 
declared — not explained. Let us not therefore dark- 
en a subject which is held forth in a prominent light, 
by our idle endeavors to make it better understood. 



Regeneration and conversion may be distinguish- 
ed from each other, though they cannot be separated. 
They may be distinguished ; as a man's being disposed 
to go in a certain road, and his actually going in that 
road, may be distinguished : for regeneration is God's 
disposing the heart to himself; but conversion is the 
actual turning of the heart to God. 



There is an immeasurable distance between the 
genuine and the spurious Christian. The genuine Chris- 
tian may be weak, wild, eccentric, fanatical, faulty ; 
but he is right-hearted : you find the root of the mat- 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 223 

ier in him. The spurious Christian is the most danger- 
ous of men, and one of the most difficult to deal with. 
You see what he is, but you lind it almost impossible 
to keep clear of him. He will seek your acquaintance, 
in order to authenticate his own character — to indorse 
his own reputation. But avoid him. His errors and 
vices will be assigned to the church, by an indiscrimm- 
ating world. There is less danger in associating with 
worldly people by profession, and more tenderness to be 
exercised toward them. St. Paul teaches us the dis- 
tinction, 1 Cor. v. 9 — 11. 



I feel disposed to treat carnal men and carnal min- 
isters with tenderness, not to show them that I am a 
spiritually proud man. Let them see that you have 
some secret in possession, which keeps you quiet, hum- 
ble, patient, holy, meek, and affectionate, in a turbulent 
and passionate world. 



The character of Balaam is not uncommon in the 
church. I have been amazed to see religious profess- 
ors, whose ungodly character has been known and read 
of all men, who have nevertheless entertained a good 
opinion of themselves. I have accounted for it, by sup- 
posing that they build entirely on the distinction of their 
views of truth from those of other men. They " know 
the points : they see the distinctions : and, moreover, 
they approve what they know, and desire to die the 
deatli of the righteous and be where they are — and, 
certainly, they must be the men of God's council, and 
the men who stand on his side against the world !" 



224 REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 

I have long adopted an expedient, which I have 
found of singular service. I have a shelf in my study, 

for tried authors : and one in my mind, for tried prin- 
ciples and characters. 

When an author has stood a thorough examination, 
and will bear to be taken as a guide. I put him on the 
shelf ! 

W hen I have more fully made up my mind on a prin- 
ciple, I put it on the shelf! A hundred subtle objec- 
tions may be brought against this principle : I may 
meet vrith some of them, perhaps : but my principle is 
on the shelf ! Generally, I may be able to recal the 
reasons which weighed with me to put it there : but if 
not, I am not to be sent out to sea again. Time was, 
when I saw through and detected all the subtleties that 
could be brought against it. I have past evidence of 
having been fully convinced ; and there on the shelf it 
shall lie ! 

When I have turned a character over and over on 
all sides, and se^n it through and through in all situa- 
tions, I put it on the shelf. There may be conduct in 
the person which may stumble others : there may be 
great inconsistencies : there may be strange and unac- 
countable turns — but I have put that character on the 
shelf : difficulties will all be cleared up : every thing 
will come round again. I should be much chagrined, 
indeed, to be obliged to take a character down which 
I had once put up ; but that has never been the case 
with me yet : and the best guard against it, is — not to 
be too hasty in putting them there. 



Influence, whether derived from money, talents or 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 225 

connexions, is power : there is no person so insignificant, 
but he has much of this power : the little Israelite maid, 
in Naaman's family, is an instance : some, indeed sup- 
pose that they have more power than they really have ; 
but we generally think we have less than we in reality 
have. Whoever neglects or misapplies this power, is 
an unprofitable servant ; unbelief, timidity, and delica- 
cy often cramp its exertion ; but it is our duty to call 
ourselves out to the exertion of this pow r er, as Mordecai 
called out Esther (ch. iv.:) it is our duty to watch 
against every thing that might hinder or pervert our 
influence : for mere regard to reputation will often carry 
many into error : who would not follow Aaron in wor- 
shipping the golded calf? Even men of feeble public 
talents may acquire much influence by kindness and 
consistency of character : ministers are defective in 
resting their personal influence too much on their pub- 
lic ministry : time will give weight to a man's character ; 
and it is one advantage to a man to be cast early into 
his situation, that he may earn a character. 



The instances of artifice which occur in scripture 
are not to be imitated but avoided : if Abraham, or 
Isaac, or Jacob equivocate in order to obtain their ends, 
this is no warrant to me to do so : David's falsehood 
concerning Goliath's sword argued distrust of God. If 
any part of the truth which I am bound to communicate 
be concealed, this is sinful artifice: the Jesuits in Chi- 
na, in order to remove the offence of the cross, declared 
that it was a falsehood invented bj the Jews (hat Christ 
was crucified ; but the) were expelled from the em- 
pire : and this was designed, perhaps, to be held np as 



226 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

a warning to all missionaries, that no good end is to be 
carried by artifice. 



But address is of a different nature. There is no 
falsehood, deception, or equivocation in address. St. 
Paul, for instance, employed lawful address, and not ar- 
tifice, when he set the Sadducees and Pharisees at va- 
riance : he employed a lawful argument to interest the 
Pharisees in his favor : this was great address, but it 
had nothing of criminal artifice. In Joshua's ambushes 
for the men of Ai there was nothing sinful : it was a law- 
ful stratagem of war : it would have been unlawful to 
tell the men of Ai there was no ambush : but they knew 
that they came out of their city liable to such ambushes. 
Christ's conduct at Emmaus, and that of the angels of 
Sodom, were meant as trials of the regard of those with 
whom they were conversing. 



Precipitation is acting without sufficient grounds 
of action. Youth is the peculiar season of precipita- 
tion : the young man's motto is "onward!" There is 
no such effectual cure of this evil, as experience : when 
a man is made to feel the effects of his precipitation, 
both in body and mind : and God alone can thus bring 
a man acquainted with himself. There is a self-blind- 
ness in precipitation : a precipitate man is, at the time, 
a blind man : That be far from thee ! said St. Peter : 
this shall not happen to thee. As the Lord liveth, 
said David, the man that hath done this thiny shall 
surely die ! 

There is great criminality in precipitation. A man 
under its influence is continually tempted to take God's 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 227 

work out of his hands. It is not a state of dependance. 
It betrays want of patience with respect to God : and 
want of faith : 7 shall one day perish by the hand of 
Saul. It discovers a want of charity : in a rash mo- 
ment we may do an injury to our neighbor,, which we 
can never repair. 

There are few, who do not feel that they are suffer- 
ing through life the effects of their own precipitation. 
He, then, that trust eth his own heart, is a fool. In 
precipitate moments we should learn to say, " I am not 
now the man to give an opinion, or to take a single 
step!" 

Method, as Mrs. More says, is the very hinge of 
business : and there is no method without punctuality. 
Punctuality is important, because it subserves the peace 
and good temper of a family : the want of it not only 
infringes on necessary duty, but sometimes excludes tins 
duty. Punctuality is important as it gains time : it is 
like packing things in a box : a good packer will get 
in half as much more as a bad one. The calmness of 
mind which it produces, is another advantage .of punc- 
tuality : a disorderly man is always in a hurry : he has 
no time to speak with you, because he is going else- 
where ; and when he gets there, he is too late for his 
business, or he must hurry away to another before he 
can finish it. It was a wise maxim of the Duke of New- 
castle — " I do one thing at a time." Punctuality gives 
weight to character. Such a man has made an ap- 
pointment : then I know he will keep i(. And this 
generates punctuality in you: for like other virtues, it 
propagates itself: servants and children must be pun 



228 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

tual, where their leader is so. Appointments, indeed, 
become debts : I owe you punctuality, if I have made 
an appointment with you ; and have no right to throw 
away your time if I do my own. 

It is a difficult question in casuistry — How far a man 
is bound to betray confidence for the general good. 
Let it be considered what consequences would follow 
from a man's disclosing all the evil he knows. The 
world would J3ecome a nest of scorpions. He must of- 
ten mistake, and of course calumniate. Such is his in- 
capacity to determine what is really evil in his neigh- 
bor, and such are the mischiefs frequently arising from 
the disclosure of even what should be in truth evil, that 
he seems rather called on to be silent, till circumstances 
render it a case of duty to remain silent no longer. But 
if this be his general rule, it will be his duty to ob- 
serve silence much oftener in cases of confidence. 
Professional men — a minister — a lawyer — a medical 
man — have an official secrecy imposed on them. If this 
were not the case — a distrest conscience could never 
unburthen itself to its confessor. Incalculable injuries 
to health and property must be sustained, for want of 
proper advisers. This applies in a very high sense to a 
minister, considered as a confessor — a director of the 
conscience. An alarmed conscience will unfold its 
most interior recesses before him. It is said Dr. Owen 
advised a man, who, under religious convictions con- 
fessed to him a murder which he had perpetrated some 
years before, to surrender himself up to justice. The 
man did so, and was executed. I think Dr. Owen er- 
red in his advice. I thought myself right, in urging on 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 229 

persons who have opened their hearts to me, deep hu- 
miliation before God for crimes committed in an un- 
converted state : but, as it had pleased Him to give a 
thorough hatred of those crimes to the mind, and a con- 
sequent self-loathing and humiliation, and yet to allow 
in his providence that they should have remained un- 
discovered, I judged that the matter might be safely 
left with him. Yet there may be cases in which general 
consequences require that confidence should be betray- 
ed. Such cases usually relate to evil tn progress. 
To prevent or counteract such evil, it may be necessary 
to disclose what has been entrusted in confidence. Yet 
the party should be honestly warned, if ils purposes 
are not changed, what duty your conscience will re- 
quire. 



I have felt twice in my life very extraordinary im- 
pressions after sermons, and that from men least cal- 
culated to affect me. A man of great powers, but so 
dissipated on every thing that he knew nothing — a friv- 
olous, futile babbler, whom I was ready almost to de- 
spise — surprised and chained me so, in my own church 
at Lewes, that I was thunder-struck : I think it was 
concerning the dove not finding rest for the sole of her 
foot : he felt the subject strongly himself; and in spite 
of all my prejudices against him, and my real knowl- 
ege of his character, he made me feel it as I have scarce- 
ly ever done before or since, in the otner instance, I 
had to do with a very different character : he w as a sim- 
ple, but weak man : it pleased God, however, to shoot 
an arrow by his hand into my heart : i had been some 
time in a dry, fruitless frame, and was persuading my- 

u 



230 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

■ 

self that all was going on weD : he said one day, at 
Lewes, with an indiscribable simplicity, that " men 
might cheer themselves in the morning, and they aright 
pass on tolerably well perhaps without God at noon : 
bur the cool of the day was coming, when God would 
come down to talk with them." It was a me from 

God to me : I fell as though God had descended into the 
church, and was about to call me to my account ! In 
the former instance. I was more surprised and astonish- 
ed than affected religiously : but, in this, I was unspeak- 
ably moved. 



Co nstitutio nal bias is a suspicious interpreter of 
providential leadings. A man's besetting sin lies in 
that to which his nature is most inclined: and, theie- 

;-. to walk wisely an:" lie should be very jeal- 

ous oi such supposed leadings in Providence as draw 
with his constitutional propensity. He is never safe,, 
unless be is in the act of collaring his nature as a rebel, 
and forcing it into submission. A s any nine man sc 
a sign and token in every thing : in every ordinary oc- 
currence, his imagination hears a call : his pious fancy 
is the source and food of an eagei . lis juieted, and rest- 
less habit of mind. An enterprising man has great fa- 
cility hi finding God in whatever seems to open to holi- 
er, Bur he 1.: ic righl 

imate of things: ifG -v with an en- 

terprising mind, the ma ^remd and tremble. 

Providence may really lead some retired and humble 
men into situations which the ambitious man would 
covet : but, even in that case, it is not to be regarded 
as an evidence of favor, so much as an increase of trial 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 231 

and responsibility : but he can never open before an 
enterprising and ambitious character, unless in judg- 
ment, or in such imminence of trial as should call the 
man to self-suspicion and humility. A pleasurable 
man easily discerns God's hand in every thing, which 
seems to put his favorite indulgences within his power : 
such a thing was a great providence ! and he is vastly 
grateful ! while he sees not that he is led away to brok- 
en cisterns. An idle man has a constant tendency to 
torpidity. He has adopted the Indian maxim — that it 
is better to walk than to run, and better to stand than 
to walk, and better to sit than to stand, and better to 
lie than to sit. He hugs himself into the notion, that 
God calls him to be quiet : — that he is not made for 
bustling and noise ! — that such and such a thing plainly 
show him he ought to retire and sit still ! A busy man 
is never at rest : he sees himself called so often into ac- 
tion, that he digs too much to suffer any thing to grow, 
and waters so profusely that he drowns. The danger 
in all these cases is, lest a man should bless himself m 
his snares ! 



Adam well observes : — " A poor country parson, 
fighting against the devil in his parish, has nobler ideas 
than Alexander had." Men of the world know nothing of 
true glory : they know nothing of the grandeur of that 
sentiment — Thou, God art the tiling I loiuj for ! 
You may, perhaps, find this sentiment in the corner of 
Some monastery, where a poor ignorant creature is 
mumbling over his prayers : or, it maj even he found to 
exist with the nonsense anil fanaticism of a Swedenbor- 
gian ; but, wherever it is, it is true dignity. 



232 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

Look at the bravery of the world ! Go into the 
Park. Who is the object of admiration there ? — The 
captain swelling and strutting at the head of his corps ! 
And what is there at the court ? — " Make way ! Make 
way '." And who is this ? A bit of clay with a ribbon 
tied round it ! Now it makes nothing against the com- 
parative emptiness and littleness of these things, that I 
or any man should be ensnared by them, and play the 
fool with the rest of the species. Truth is truth, and 
dignity is dignity in spite of the errors and follies of any 
man living. 

But this is the outside. What are the greatest minds, 
and the noblest projects of the world, compared with a 
Christian ! Take Mr. Pitt for instance ; and contrast 
him with the most insignificant old woman in the church 
of Christ ! If the Bible be not true you have no stan- 
dard : all your reasonings, and science, and philosophy, 
and metaphysics, are gross absurdity and folly. But if 
the Bible be true, Mr. Pitt, great and noble as he is, 
yet, considered as a mere politician, even Mr. Pitt has 
a little, contracted, mean mind ! — a driveller ! — an earth 
worm ! Compared with his projects and schemes, the 
old woman, who rises at two o'clock in the morning, 
lights her farthing candle, stands all day over her wash- 
tub, at night puts on her red cloak, steals out to some 
place of worship, hears the truths of the gospel mangled 
perhaps with ignorant yet honest zeal, but draws in good 
into an honest and prepared heart — why, this woman is a 
heroine — a noble mind — compared with the greatest 
of men, considered as a mere man of this world ! 

Bishop Wilkins has said admirably, That nothing in 
man is great, but, so far as it is connected with God. 



REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 233 

The only wise thing recorded of Xerxes, is his reflec- 
tion on the sight of his army — That not one of that im- 
mense multitude would survive a hundred years : it 
seems to have been a momentary gleam of true light 
and feeling. 



u2 






APPENDIX. 



REMARKS BY MR. CECIL, COMMUNICATED TO THE 
EDITOR BY SOME FRIENDS. 



A hiding-place implies secrecy. He who can say 
unto God, Thou art my hiding-place, may go abroad 
about his affairs, and may pass through a thousand dan- 
gers, and yet, at the- same time, have such a hiding- 
place, in the favor and protection of God, that, when 
he seems to be exposed on every side, still he is secured 
and hidden from every evil. 



A great man, however high his office and talents, is 
dependent on little things. Jonah ivas exceeding glad 
of his gourd. However splendid and towering, man 
is crushed beneath the moth, if God does not uphold 
him : so that while we are admiring the great man as 
he is called, and however he may be disposed to admire 
himself, and to speak great swelling ivords of vanity, 
facts will show that he is a poor, dependent creature, 
who cannot live a moment without God. If the Holy 
Spirit opens his eyes, he will perceive that he cannot 
stand alone ; but he can only support himself and climb, 
like the ivy, by clasping one stronger than himself. 



Dreams are common to sleeping. No man begins to 
slumber in religion, but he falls into some golden dream. 



236 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

It is a device of Satan to seduce men into a drowsy 
state, and then to beguile them with some dream. — 
When the duties of religion become irksome, then he 
presents some novelty which allures and deceives us : 
whereas, had we been in life and vigor, we should have 
detected the deceit. 



There are no greater objects of pity in the world, 
than men who are admired by all around for their nice 
discerment and fine taste in every thing of a worldly 
nature, but have no taste for the riches that endure for- 
ever — no love for God or his word — no love for Christ or 
their souls. In such a state, however admired or re- 
spected, they cannot see the kingdom of God. 



A spiritual man is a character that rises far above all 
worldly wisdom and science. He is described by our 
Lord as born of the Spirit. Spiritual senses are giv- 
en to him. He has a spiritual taste that rejects what- 
ever is injurious, and gladly receives whatever is salu- 
tary to the spiritual life : he desires the sincere ?nilk of 
the word, that he may grow thereby. He has a spir- 
itual sight : he looks not at the things which are 
seen, but at the things which are not seen. He 
smells a sweet savor in the things of God. His name 
is as ointment poured forth. He has a quick feel- 
ing. And he has a spiritual ear ; My sheep hear my 
voice. He lives in a world of his own : he is tried by 
spiritual conflicts, and supported by spiritual comforts. 
If the things of God do not afford him consolation, he 
droops, and nothing in this world can lift up his head : 
he will say to every other object .Miser able comforters 



APPENDIX. 237 

are ye all I He is pursuing a spiritual end, and while 
others boast and are puffed up with their great attain- 
ments, he is humbled in the dust, and gives all glory 
to God. 



There are critical circumstances, under which a man 
who is in general on his guard, is called to redouble his 
Christian vigilance. If he is about to encounter im- 
minent danger, for instance, he will take care to secure 
himself by every possible means. A house may be well 
guarded and secured, but, if there is any fear and ex- 
pectation of thieves, every place will be doubly barred 
and watched. Good care may be taken, in the gener- 
al habits of a family, to guard against fire ; but if it be 
known that a spark has fallen among any combustibles, 
every possible search is made to discover it and to pre- 
vent its ravages. Thus should every servant of Christ 
redouble his guard in critical circumstances. He should 
remember, that, while awful providences seem to be 
threatening us, and while we are surrounded with dan- 
gers on every side, and while the enemy of our souls is 
going about as a roaring lion seeking ivhom he may 
devour, it ill becomes us to trifle. Let us stir up our- 
selves, and attend to our Master's admonition, Let 
your loins be girded about, and your lights bu ril- 
ing, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for 
their Lord. 



If St. Paul had not been an entire character, he 
would not have spoken so ingenuously of himself as be 
does in the 7th to the Romans. He would have acted 
as many others have done : he would have put the best 



238 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

aspect on things. He would not have opened the cham- 
bers of imagery ; and have shewed, while all the 
church was admiring him, what was passing within. 
Here were real simplicity and humility — nothing of 
that Pharisee which he once was. The Pharisee is be- 
come a Publican : the reality is coming forward ; and 
he seems to say, " Is any man groaning under a body 
of sin and death ? — "on searching his heart, does he 
find that therein dwelleth no good thing ? — This is my 
case also ; and if I have any thing wherein to glory, it 
is in Christ and not in myself." 



Charity should teach us to exercise hope and love 
toward all men — hope toward those who are without, 
and love toward those who are within, the walls of the 
city of God. Of those without, we are apt to despair 
too soon, and to say, There is no hope ; when we 
should labor to allure them into the church of God, and 
to impress them with a sense of its glory and its privi- 
leges. Toward those within the walls, we sometimes 
fail in the exercise of love : we are too much influenced 
in our feelings toward them by a difference of educa- 
tion, taste, or disposition ; while the great question 
ought to be, " Are they really fellow-citizens with the 
saints, and of the household of God?" — and if so, 
whatever their defects may be, we ought to honor and 
love them as the temples of the Holy Ghost. 



When Christians are delivered from trouble, they 
are apt soon to forget it ; and to lose sight of the holy 
resolutions formed w T hile under affliction : the strong 
impressions soon decay. Whereas if we were enabled 



APPENDIX. 239 

to glory in tribulation — if our conscience were made 
tender — if more reality were put into our prayers — we 
should take heed how we give way to an evil heart of 
unbelief: we should remember, too, how our troubles 
w r ere brought on us, and the benefits which we received 
while they continued : we should watch that we might 
not estimate them falsely : and at all times, we should 
bear it in our mind, that it is not suffering which hurts 
us, but sin. 



Some men will follow Christ on certain conditions — 
if he will not lead them through rough roads — if he will 
not enjoin them any painful tasks — if the sun and wind 
do not annoy them — if he will remit a part of his plan 
and order. But the true Christian, who has the spirit 
of Jesus, will say, as Ruth said to Naomi, " Whither 
thou goest, I will go /" whatever difficulties and dan- 
gers may be in the way. 



It is our happiness, as Christians, that, however we 
may change our place, we shall never change our ob- 
ject. Whatever we lose,, we shall not lose that which 
Ave esteem better than life. God has made to us this 
gracious promise — I will dwell in them, and walk in 
them. And though w T e may endure much ailiiction, 
and pass through many deep waters, yet this is our 
honor and comfort, the Lord is with us ! and then — 
what is difficulty ? — what is tribulation ? — what is 
death ? — Death to a Christian is but an entrance into 
the city of God ! it is but joining a more blessed com- 
pany, and singing in a more exalted strain, than he can 
do in this world. 



240 REMAINS OF MR. CECTL. 

The way of every man is declarative of the end of 
that man. 



How difficult is it to show those who are in the house 
of mourning, that God is teaching them, that, if they 
had not leaned so much on their creature-supports, they 
had not been so broken ! Still they are crying, Ab- 
salom, my son, my son ! Why is it that we are shock- 
ed to see the world falling to pieces around us, when 
we shall leave it ourselves to-morrow — perhaps to-day? 
We forget that it is the design of God to dash every 
thing to pieces. It is by these trials that we begin to 
learn we have been walking by sense rather than by 
faith — and looking at our children and our possessions 
as though we were never to lose them. 



It is by faith that we are relieved under the diffi- 
culties of sense. Sense revolts, when it views our 
great high Priest on the cross — Faith glories in this ob- 
ject ! Sense talks like the Jews : He saved others : 
himself he cannot save : if he be now the King oj 
Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we 
will believe him. — Faith lays hold on him as the Sa- 
viour of the world, and cries, Lord ! remember me 
when thou contest into thy kingdom! Sense envies 
the prosperous worldling, and calls him happy — Faith 
goes into the sanctuary, to see w r hat his end will be. 
When the waves run high, Sense clamors : Faith says, 
" Speak but the word, and the winds and waves shall 
obey thee." When we feel our earthly house of this 
tabernacle taking down, Sense sinks : but Faith says, 
We know, that, if our earthly house of this taberna- 



APPENDIX. 241 

cle be dissolved we have a building of God, a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 



Wisdom prepares for the worst ; but folly leaves 
the worst for that day when it comes. 

Abraham teaches us the right way of conversing with 
God : And Abraham fell on his face, and God talked 
with him ! When we plead with him our faces should 
be in the dust : we should not then speak lightly of 
him, nor complain ; nor will there be any more boast- 
ing. We shall abase ourselves and exalt God ! 



The Christian's secret intercourse with God will 
make itself manifest to the world. We may not see the 
husbandman cast the seed into the ground, yet when 
the corn grows and ripens we know that it was sown. 
The mere professor, who may be found every where 
but in his secret chamber, may think that with care he 
shall pass for a good Christian : but he mistakes, for the 
spirit will discover itself, of what sort it is. He, who 
would walk safely and honorably, must walk closely 
with God in secret. 



A variety of circumstances render the sinner's first 
approaches to Christ diihcult. They, who find an easy 
access, will find an easy departure when troubles arise. 



The most likely method we can take to hasten the 
removal o( what we love, is, to value it too much— to 
think on it with endless anxiety — to live on its favor 
with solicitude. It shall soon either become a thorn in 
our side, or be taken away. 



242 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

Be ye not unequally yoked. If a believer marries 
an unbeliever, the miseries which ensue are endless. 
Were they determined in kindness, to grant all they 
could to each other : yet they live as in two separate 
worlds. There is a great gulf between them, which 
cannot be passed without the grace of God ; on which, 
while all should hope and pray for it, none should pre- 
sume. They cannot taste the same pleasures, nor share 
the same sorrows, nor pursue the same objects, nor walk 
in the same path. What hope, then, can there be of 
comfort ? Every Christian finds the corruptions of his 
own heart, the snares of the world, and the devices of 
Satan, together with innumerable secret anxieties, quite 
enough to struggle with, in his journey to heaven, with- 
out adding another to his difficulties. 



In studying the word of God, digest it under these 
two heads : either as removing obstructions, which keep 
God and thee asunder ; or as supplying some uniting 
power to bring God and thee together. 



Perhaps it is a greater energy of Divine Power, 
which keeps the Christian from day to day, from year 
to year — praying, hoping, running, believing — against 
all hinderances — which maintains him as a living mar- 
tyr — than that which bears him up for an hour in sacri- 



ficing himself at the stake. 



By the course of his providence God will assert the 
libe: ty of his council. 

Let me ask, every day, what reference it has to the 



APPENDIX. 243 

day of judgment ; and cultivate a disposition to be re- 
minded of that day. 

Indulge not a gloomy contempt of of any thing which 
is in itself good : only let it keep its place. 



God has called us to meet his best gift to man — his 
only-begotten Son — not in a splendid court, but in a 
manger ! — in the wilderness ! — in Gethsemane ! — before 
the high priest, when they spat in his face and buffeted 
him, and smote him ! — at the cross ! — and at the sepul- 
chre ! Thus it is that he corrects the pride and ambi- 
tion of the human heart ! 



There is in sin, not only an infinite mischief done 
to the man, but it is accompanied by an infatuation that 
surpasses all description. When the heart declines 
from God, and loses communion with Christ, the man 
resembles one in a consumption, who is on the brink of 
the grave and yet talks of a speedy recovery ! A 
death will come on the spirit, which will be perceived 
and felt by all aronnd : yet, when the most affectionate 
friends of such a man attempt to expostulate, they of- 
ten find him not only insensible, but obstinate and stout- 
hearted. He who, like Samson, the champion of Isra- 
el, lays his head on the lap of temptation, will rarely 
rise again as he lay down : he may say, I will go out, 
as at other times before, and shake myself: but he 
wists not that the Lord is departed front him ! — 
Strangers have devoured his strength, and he know- 
eth it not ! 



The whole life of Christ was one continued express- 



244 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

ion of the same desire, — " Let me lay aside my glory 
— let me expire on the cross — so that thy kingdom may 
come !" And the blood of every martyr, whoever suffer- 
ed in the cause of God, cried, " Let thy kingdom come !" 



Growth in grace manifests itself by a simplicity — 
that is, a greater naturalness of character. There will 
be more usefulness, and less noise ; more tenderness 
of conscience, and less scrupulosity : there will be more 
peace, more humility : when the full corn is in the ear, 
it bends down because it is full. 



The history of all the great characters of the Bible 
is summed up in this one sentence : — they acquainted 
themselves with God, and acquiesced in his will in all 
things. 



*o' J 



God's way of answering the Christian's prayer for an 
increase of patience, experience, hope, and love — usual- 
ly is to put him into the furnace of tribulation. St. 
James therefore says, Count it all joy when ye fall 
into clivers temptations. People of the w r orld count 
it all joy when they are in ease and affluence ; but a 
Christian is taught to count it all joy when he is tried 
as gold in the fire. 

In Christ we see the most perfect exhibition of every 
grace, to which we, as his followers, are called. Let 
there be but in us that poverty of spirit — that disposi- 
tion to bear with provocations, and to forgive injuries — 
that obedience to God and acquiescence in his will — 
that perseverance in doing good — that love which over- 
cometh all difficulties^— that meekness, humility, pa- 



APPENDIX. 245 

tience, compassion, and gentleness which were found 
in Christ ; and if any man should be so ignorant and 
debased as to imagine that this is not true digntty of 
character, let it be remembered that this was the 
mind which was also in Christ Jesus, 



Looking back is more than we can sustain without 
going back ! 

When the multitudes followed our Lord on a parti- 
cular occasion, although he wished for retirement, and 
had gone purposely to seek it, yet he gave up his de- 
sign and attended to them. Mark the condescension 
and tenderness of such conduct, in opposition to a sour, 
monastic, morose temper. We are too fond of our own 
will. We want to be doing what we fancy mighty 
things ; but the great point is, to do small things, when 
called to them, in a right spirit. 



The world will allow of a vehemence approaching 
to ecstasy, on almost any occasion but that which, above 
all others, will justify it. 



A Christian will find his parenthesis for prayer, 
even through his busiest hours. 



We treat sensible and present things as realities, and 
future and eternal things as fables : whereas the re- 
verse should be our habit. 



An Enthusiast will court trouble, and that for it- 
self : but a Christian, while he does not COURT it, yel 
rejoices in it: not lor its own sake, but because he 
knows that tribulation worketh patience, and pa- 



246 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

tience experience, and experience hope — a hope that 
?naketh not ashamed. While patience is the fruit of 
his conflicts and trials, he gains experience by them : 
he acquires the knowledge which a traveller obtains in 
performing a long journey: he is in possession of a 
bundle of choice maxims and observations, gathered 
with much pains : he is taught by them to know his 
own heart : he is brought acquainted with the faithful- 
ness and mercy of God, in holding him up in the deep 
waters, and accompaning him through the fire of afflic- 
tion. And this experience produces hope — a hope that 
he is savingly united to Christ — a hope that he is in the 
church of God — a hope of the glory of God — a hope 
that maketh not ashamed, keeping us steady at an- 
chor through every storm, and when every other sup- 
port fails. 



There are but two states in the w r orld which may be 
pronounced happy — either that of the man who re- 
joices in the light of God's countenance, or that of him 
who mourns after it. 



Let the warm-hearted Christian be careful of re- 
ceiving a wrong bias in religion. When a ball is in 
motion, almost any thing presented to it obliquely will 
turn it wholly out of its course. Beware, therefore, of 
a wrong direction in Christianity. Fix your attention 
ever on such examples as St. John and St. Paul, and 
hear how they speak : If any ?nan love not the Lord 
Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Marantha ! 



God denies a Christian nothing, but with a design to 
give him something better. 



APPENDIX. 247 

God teaches some of his best lessons in the school of 
affliction. It is said that St. Paul's Epistle to the 
Ephesians has quite the spirit and air of a prison. That 
school must be truly excellent, which produces such ex- 
perience and wisdom. 

We cannot build too confidently on the merits of 
Christ, as our only hope ; nor can we think too much 
of the mind that was in Christy as our great example. 



A christian does not glory in tribulation, as lie 
does in the cross of Christ. The Cross of Christ is the 
object in which he glories : but he glories in tribulation 
as an appointed means and instrument in the hand of 
God, of accomplishing his own pleasure and promoting 
our real good. 

Never was there a man of deep piety, who has not 
been brought into extremities— who has not been put 
into the fire — who has not been taught to say, Though 
he slay me, yet will I trust in him ! 



A Christian's steps are not only safe, but steady : — 
He that believeth shall not make haste. When dan- 
ger approaches, he shall not be thrown into confusion 
from his alarm, so as tt be ready to say, "Whither 
shall I run ?" but, finding himself on safe ground, he 
shall be quiet. Being built on the sure foundation and 
established in Christ, he shall not make haste ia his 
expectations : he shall not make haste with respect to 
the promises, as "though they were long in their ac< 01 - 
plishment, knowing that all the promises of God are 
Yea) and, in Christ, Amen ! In affliction, he shall 



248 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

not make haste in running to broken cisterns ; as Asa 
did, when in his disease, he sought not to the Lord, 
but to the physicians : he shall not be alarmed, or 
driven about, as one who has not a strong-hold to enter ; 
but shall say, None of these things move me ! neither 
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might 
finish my course with joy I With respect to his 
character, the Christian shall not make haste : if a 
cloud come over his reputation, and men will suspect 
his integrity without grounds, he will commit himself to 
God, and wait his opportunity, and not make rash 
haste to justify and clear his character. 



When a man can say, " My God !" if he can add 
no more, that is sufficient : for my God is all-wise in 
appointing, and almighty to uphold and to deliver. 
My God is a Father to me in Christ : yea, he is a Father 
who hid his face from Christ for my good. If, then, I 
am in darkness, let me remember that God never had 
a Son that was not sometimes in the dark ; for even 
Christ, his only begotten Son, cried out, My God ! My 
God ! why hast thou forsaken me ? 



Few Christians, if any, sufficiently honor Christ, as 
governing their concerns. They do not say, " Now, 
while I am praying on earth, my Saviour is working 
for me in heaven. He is saying to one, 'Do this !' — 
and to another, e Do that !' — and all for my good!" 
While Jeremiah was, doubtless, crying to God out of 
the dungeon, Ebed-melech was interceding for him 
with the king, and they were preparing the means of 
his deliverance. See Jer. xxxviii. 



APPENDIX. 249 

Let the restless, comfortless state of a backslider, 
distinguish him from an apostate. 



If you have set out in the ways of God, do not stum- 
ble at present difficulties. Go forward. Look not 
behind. 



Something must be left as a test of the loyalty of 
the heart — in Paradise, the Tree : in Israel, a Canaan- 
ite : in us, Temptation. 



Reltgious joy, is a holy, a delicate deposite. It is a 
pledge of something greater, and must not be thought 
lightly of: for, let it be withdrawn only for a little, and 
notwithstanding the experience we may have had of it, 
we shall find no living creature can restore it unto us, 
and we can only, with David, cry, Restore unto me, 
O Lord, the joy of thy salvation. 



A christian should beware of that temptation, Why 
should I wait for the Lord any longer ? He should 
remember, if it is a time of extremity, that is the very 
reason why he should wait. If his way is so hedged 
up that he cannot go forward, he should say, " Now is 
the time for me to stand still, and wait till God opens 
my way." When my spirit was overwhelmed within 
me, then thou knewest my path. 



Human nature is always puting forth its fears and un- 
belief, in anxious questions concerning to-morrou\ or 
some threatening calamity : but Christ says to every 
Christian "Let not your heart be troubled, neither 
let it be afraid : 1 go to prepare a place for you ; 



250 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

and I will protect and guide you throughout the jour- 
ney thither." 

God with us is the traveller's security. Jacob was 
destitute : he had a long and dreary journey ; but God 
said,, Behold I am with thee, and will keep thee in all 
places whither thou goest. 



God calls not for thousands of rams nor ten thous- 
ands of rivers of oil : he calls not his creatures to 
live in sackcloth and ashes, nor sets them to perform 
long pilgrimages, nor to inflict pains on their bodies. 
No ! the rigors of superstition are from man. The 
voice of God is, " Be happy, here and forever ! Fly 
that which will make you miserable every where ! 
Come unto me, all that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." 

The voice of Christ is, My Son, give me thy heart ! 
and to him, who obeys, he will say, " Go in peace ! go 
into the grave ! go to judgment ! go into eternity ! go 
in peace !" 



A christian must stand in a posture to receive every 
message which God shall send. He must be so pre- 
pared, as to be like one who is called to set off on a 
sudden journey, and has nothing to do but to set out at 
a moment's notice : or like a merchant who has goods 
to send abroad, and has them all packed up and in 
readiness for the first sail. 



How many people go out of their sphere under good 
pretences! 



APPENDIX. 251 

A pekson who objects to tell a friend of his faults, 
because lie has faults of his own, acts as a surgeon 
would who should refuse to dress another person's wound 
because he had a dangerous one himself. 



When the most insignificant person tells us we are 
wrong, we ought to listen. Let us believe it possible 
we may be wrong, when any one supposes we are ; and 
enter into the true littleness which consists in receiving 
correction like a child. 



No man rejects a minister of God who faithfully per- 
forms his office, till he has rejected God. 



The plainest declarations of God's favor and the 
strongest encouragements, are generally manifested in 
the darkest night of trial. Who could be more desti- 
tute than Jacob, when he lay down in the desert with a 
stone for his pillow ? See also Acts xxvii. 20 — 24. 2 
Cor. i. 3, 4, 5. 



The pride of Israel testifieth to his face ; and 
they do not return to the Lord their God. This is 
the worst symptom in a sinner — when he is too proud to 
go to God. Whatever be our condition, if there is con- 
trition of spirit under it, there is hope of that man. 
There is no room for despair, to whatever lengths a 
man may have gone in sin, if he can smite on his breast, 
and say, " O Lord ! though my sins testify against mo, 
yet thou art a God of compassion. Do thou it, for thy 
name's sake." 



A christian should never attempt to try his state 



252 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

while under a temptation : he might as well attempt to 
examine the face of the moon while she is under an 
eclipse. But, when he finds corrupt nature setting in 
with a temptation — and who has not felt this ? — let him 
remember his Great Physician. This is the glory of 
the Son of God, that no case, either of the body or of 
the soul, was ever found too hard for him ! Blessed be 
God, that we have in him a hiding-place — a covert 
from the storm — a refuge from all our enemies ! 



The great care of the man who is content with the 
form of godliness without the power, is, that every 
thing should be right without ; while the true Chrstian 
is most careful that every thing should be right within. 
It would be nothing to him to be applauded by the 
whole world, if he had not the approbation of God and 
his own conscience. Real religion is, therefore, a living 
principle. Any one may make a show, and be called 
a Christian, and unite himself to a sect, and be admir- 
ed, — but, for a man to enter into the sanctuary ; to hold 
secret communion with God ; to retire into his closet, 
and transact all his affairs with an unseen Saviour ; to 
walk with God like Enoch, and yet to smite on his 
breast with the Publican, having no confidence in the 
flesh, and triumphing only in Christ Jesus, — these are 
the life and acts of a new creature ! 



O Lord ! let me have any thing but thy frown ; 
and any thing, icith thy. smile !* 

* " Give what thou canst, without Thee we are poor ! 
And with Thee rich ; take what thou wilt away." 

Cowpeb. Task. V. J. P. 



APPENDIX. 253 

Whatever,, below God, is the object of our love, 
will, at some time or other, be the matter of our sorrow. 



Take care, Christian ! whatever you meet with in 
your way, that you forget not your father ! When 
the proud and wealthy rush by in triumph, while you 
are poor and in sorrow, hear the voice of your Father 
saying, " My son ! had I loved them, I should have cor- 
rected them too. I give them up to the ways of their 
own hearts : but to my children, if I give sorrow, it is 
that I may lead them to a crown of glory that fadeth 
not away ! 



It is by faith that we contemplate unseen tilings. 
To the eye of a clown, a planet appears but a twinkling 
star : but if he looked through a telescope, and were 
able to calculate, he would perceive that it was a great 
world, and would be astonished at its distance and 
magnitude. While the gay and the busy are moving 
on their little mole-hills full of anxiety, faith thus reaches 
beyond the world : it views death as at hand : it looks 
at heaven, and catches a glimpse of its glory : it looks 
at hell, and sees the torments of the condemned : it 
looks at judgment, and realizes that awful day : it looks 
at eternity, and says, Our light affliction, which is 
but for a moment, worketli for us a far mow ex- 
ceeding and eternal iveight of glory : while tee look 
not at the things which are seen, hut at the things 
which are not seen ; for the things which arc semi 
are temporal, but the tilings which ((re not seen 
are eternal. 



Where there is a real character, a man will not sit 



254 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL 

down in the Christian conflict, and say, " If I must carry 
about with me this body of death, I must submit. I 
must bear these enemies as quietly as I can." No ! he 
will say, as St. Paul seems to say, u I will be on no 
terms with sin ! I will raise an outcry against the cor- 
rupt nature ! I will triumph in my Physician ! His 
grace is sufficient for me : I will wait for a cure, and 
wait for it in the appointed way. I see light, and hope, 
and liberty ; and I thank God, that, if I am a sinner, 
vet I am a saved sinner !" 



God hath set the day of prosperity and the day 
of adversity ', the one over against the other — as the 
clouds are gathered, for rain, by the shining of the sun : 
and, if for a moment they are blown aside, we must ex- 
pect their return. Where, in our sky, should we look 
for clouds ? — where it is brightest : where our expec- 
tations are highest. Our sharpest sorrows rise out of 
our sweetest comforts. Rachel said, Give me chil- 
dren, or else I die ! and in obtaining what she esteem- 
ed her highest comfort — what she would have at anv 
rate — was hidden the cause of her sharpest grief. God 
gave her children ; and, in bearing her second child, 
it came to pass, as her soul was departing, 'for she 
died,) that she called his name Ben-oni — the son of 
my sorrow. 

Who is the most miserable man on earth ? — and 
whither shall we go to seek him ? Not to the tavern ! 
not to the theatre ! not even to a brothel ! — but to the 
church ! That man who has sat Sabbath after Sab- 
bath under the awakening and affecting calls of the 



APPENDIX. 255 

gospel, and has hardened his heart against these calls 
— he is the man whose condition is the most desperate 
of all others. Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! ivoe unto 
thee, Beihsaida ! — and thou, Capernaum, which art 
exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. 



Give every kind of knowledge its due attention and 
respect : but what science is to he compared to the 
knowledge of Christ crucified ? Had a traveller lost his 
way in some desert, where he had wandered till he was 
fainting with hunger and thirst, for what would he first 
ask ? — for music ? — paintings ? — No ! — he would ask 
for bread — for water ! Any thing else offered him 
would be a mocking of his misery. 



What an oppressive burden is taken off a Chris- 
tian's shoulders, by his privilege of leaving all conse- 
quences, while in the path of duty to God ! He has 
done with — " how shall I bear this trouble ?" — " How 
shall I remove this difficulty?" — "How shall I get 
through this deep water ?" — but leaves himself in the 
hands of God. 



We may form some idea of the joys of heaven, by 
the innocent pleasures which God grants on earth. 
Here is a fine situation, with wonderful prospects —ev- 
ery thing to delight the senses : yet all this we find in 
a world which is under a curse ! what then may we 
not expect in a heavenly world, where God exercises 
all his power for our blessedness ? 

However ill men may treat us, we should never 
give them a handle to say that we misbehaved our- 



236 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

selves. Were I to meet my most bitter adversary, 
and know that lie was come with the most malicious 
intentions. I should endeavour to be so on my guard, 
that he could not lay his ringer, with truth, on any part 
of my conduct. 



The motive determines the quality of actions. One 
man may do a penurious act, because he knows he shall 
be put to difficulties if he does not : and another may 
do the same from mere avarice. The king of Edom 
offered up his son on the wall, and his abominable 
cruelty excited just indignation : but Abraham, having 
in intention offered up his son, is held forth to all gener- 
ations for this act as the father of the faithful. 



It is always a sign of poverty of mind, where men are 
ever aiming to appear great : for they who are really 



great, never seem to know it. 



What the world calls the best company is such as a 
pious mechanic would not condescend to keep : he 
would rather say, Turn away /nine eyes from behold- 
i/iu vanity* 

One way of reading the Bible with advantage is, to 
pay it great homage : so that, when we come to any 
part which we cannot connect with ether passages, we 

isi conclude that this arises from our ignorance, but 
r seeming contrarieties are in themselves quite 
reconcilable. 



Young Christians on setting out in life, often mistake 
greatly in not sufficiently attributing events to the im- 



APPENDIX. 257 

mediate providence of God. They are not reluctant, 
at the end. to acknowledge that their way has been di- 
rected : but they do not enough mark it as they go on. 
There is a habit of saying, " Such a thing may turn 
up," as if it depended on chance ; whereas nothing will 
turn up, but what was ordered long before. One cause 
of this evil is, that the divinity of our day deals too much 
in common-place : certain fundamental truths are set 
forth : and if a man professes these truths, too little ac- 
count is made of the faith, dependance, and other graces 
of a Christian. When a man becomes a Christian he is 
written upon, as it were, " to be provided for !" — and 
lie ought, therefore, to notice, as he goes on, how Provi- 
dence does provide for him. 



Men mistake in nothing so much, as when they re- 
sist their dispensation ; for, while God shutteth up a 
man, there can be no opening. Resistance does but 
make the dispensation harder to be borne. Job says, 
He teareth himself in his anger : but shall the rock 
be removed because of thee ? The man is, as it were, 
in a labyrinth : and the hand, which brought him in, 
must be the hand to conduct him out. 



We require the same hand to protect us in apparent 
safety, as in the most imminent and palpable danger. 
One of the most wicked men in my neighborhood was 
riding near a precipice, and fell over : his horse was 
killed, but he escaped without injury : instead of thank- 
ing God for his deliverance, he refused to acknowledge 
the hand of God therein : but attributed his escape to 
chance. The same man was afterward riding on a very 

w 2 



258 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

smooth road : Lis horse suddenly tripped and fell, and 
threw his rider over his head, and killed him on the spot, 
while the horse escaped unhurt. 



If a man is dead in sin, our attempting to correct his 
false notions is like laying a dead man straight, who be- 
fore was lying crooked. The man is dead, and will re- 
main so ; though, before, he was lying crooked, and is 
now lying straight. It matters little what right notions 
we may have, while we are dead in sin ; for we shall 
never act up to them, till God awakens our hearts. 



To have too much forethought, is the part of a 
wretch ; to have too little, is the part of a fool. 



Self-will is so ardent and active, that it will break 
a world to pieces, to make a stool to sit on. 



We are too little acquainted with the sacred charac- 
ter of God. A certain man sold a possessio?t, and 
brought a certain part of the price. We should 
have thought this a generous act : but God saw that 
there wanted a right estimation of his character. Many 
sins are suffered to pass, to be punished hereafter : but 
God sometimes breaks out, and strikes an offender dead 
in vindication of his own glory. 



Remember always to mix good sense with good 
things, or they will become disgusting. 



Things are not to be done by the effort of the mo- 
ment, but by the preparation of past moments. 



APPENDIX. 259 

If there is any person to whom you feel dislike that 
is the person of whom you ought never to speak. 



Irritability urges us to lake a step as much too 
soon, as sloth does too late. 



When we read the Bible we must always remember, 
that like the holy waters seen by Ezekiel, (xlvii.) it is in 
some places, up to the ankles ; in others, up to the 
knees ; in others, up to the loins ; and in some a 
river too deep to be fathomed, and that cannot be pass- 
ed over. There is light enough to guide the humble 
and teachable to heaven, and obscurity enough to con- 
found the unbeliever. 



True religion as revealed in the scriptures may be 
compared to a plum on the tree, covered with its bloom. 
Men gather the plum, and handle it, and turn and twist 
it about, till it is deprived of all its native bloom and 
beauty : the fairest hand would as much rob the plum 
of its bloom, as any other. Now all that little party- 
spirit, which so much prevails among men, and which 
leads them to say, I am of Paid and I of Apollo s — is 
but handling the plum till it loses its bloom. 



There are but two classes of the wise : — the men 
who serve God because they have found him : and the 
men who seek him, because they have found him not. 
All others may say, Is titer e not a lie in my right 
hand ? 



Philosophy is a proud, sullen detecter of the poverty 
and misery of man. It may turn him from the world 



260 REMAIN8 OF MR. CECIL. 

with a proud, sturdy contempt: but it cannot come 
forward, and say, "Here are rest — grace — peace — 
strength — consolation !" 



We hear much of a decent pride — a becoming pride 

— a noble pride — a laudable pride ! Can that be de- 
cent, of which we ought to be ashamed ?— Can that be 
becoming, of which God has set forth the deformity ? 

— Can that be noble, which God resists, and is deter- 
mined to debase? — Can that be laudable, which God 
calls abominable? 



Many things are spoken of. in the Scriptures, as 

good : but there is not one thing emphatically called 
good, which does not relate to Christ or his coming. 



Say the strongest things you can, with candor and 
kindness, to a man's face ; and make the best excuse 
you can for him, with truth and justice, behind his back. 



Many people labor to make the narrow way wider. 

They may dig a path into the broad way ; but the way 
to life must remain a narrow way to the end. 



All extremes are error. The reverse of error is not 
truth, but error. Truth lies between these extremes. 



I have no doubt, but that there are persons of every 
description, under every possible circumstance, in ev- 
ery lawful calling, among Christians, who will go to 
heaven — that all the world may see, that neither their 
circumstances nor calling prevented their being among 
the number of the blessed. 



APPENDIX. 261 

God has given us four books : — the Book of Grace ; 
the Book of Nature ; the Book of the World ; and the 
Book of Providence. Every occurrence is a leaf in one 
of these books : it does not become us to be negligent 
in the use of any of them. 



Eloquence is vehement simplicity. 



God is omniscient as well as omnipotent ; and om- 
niscience may see reason to withhold what omnipotence 
could bestow. 



Attend to the presence of God : this will dignify 
a small congregation, and annihilate a large one. 



Having some business to transact with a gentleman 
in the city, I called one day at his counting house : he 
begged I would call again, as I had so much more time 
to spare than he had, who was a man of business. — 
"An hour is nothing to you/' said he — "An hour nothing 
to a clergyman !" said I : "you seem little to understand 
the nature of our profession. One hour of a clergy- 
man's time rightly employed, Sir, is worth more to him 
than all the gains of your merchandize." 



If a man has a quarrelsome temper, let hi in alone. 
The world will soon find him employment. He will 
soon meet with some one stronger than himself, who 
will repay him better than you can. A man may light 
duels all his life, if he is disposed to quarrel. 



One day I got oil' my horse to kill a rat, which 1 
found on the road only half killed. I am shocked at 



262 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

the thoughtless cruelty of many people, yet I did a thing 
soon after, that has given me considerable uneasiness, 
and for which I reproach myself bitterly. As I was 
riding homeward, I saw a wagon standing at a door, 
with three horses : the two foremost were eating their 
corn from bags at their noses ; but I observed the third 
had dropped his on the ground, and could not stoop to 
get any food. However I rode on, in absence, without 
assisting him. But when I had got nearly home, I re- 
membered what I had observed in my absence of mind, 
and felt extremely hurt at my neglect ; and would have 
ridden back had I not thought the wagoner might have 
come out of the house and relieved the horse. A man 
could not have had a better demand for getting off his 
horse, than for such an act of humanity. It is by ab- 
sence of mind that we omit many duties. 



A wicked man is a candidate for nothing but hell ! 
However he may live, if his conscience were awake, he 
would turn pale at this question : What shall I do in 
the end thereof? 

There is a great defect in Gray's Elegy. You can- 
not read it without feeling a melancholy : there is no 
sunshine — no hope after death : it shows the dark side 
only of mortality. But a man refined as he was, and 
speculating on the bankruptcy of human nature, if he 
brought not evangelical views into the estimate, could 
describe human nature only as hopeless and forlorn : 
whereas, what he felt a subject of melancholy, is with 
me included in the calculation. I know it must be so, 
and, according to my views, should be disappointed if 



APPENDIX. 263 

it were not so — My kingdom, said our Lord, is not of 
this world. 



Revelation never staggers me. There may be a 
tertium quid, though we are not yet in possession of it, 
which would put an end to all our present doubts and 
questions. I was one day riding with a friend : we 
were discussing a subject, and I expressed myself sur- 
prised that such a measure was not adopted. " If I 
were to tell you one thing," said he, it would make all 
clear." I gave him credit that there did exist some- 
thing, which would entirely dispel my objections. Now 
if this be the case in many instances, between man and 
man, is it an unreasonable conclusion, that all the unac- 
countable points, which we may observe in the provi- 
dence and government of God, should be all perfection 
in the Divine mind ? Take the growth of a seed — I 
cannot possibly say what first produces progress of 
growth in the grain. Take voluntary motion — I can- 
not possibly say where action begins and thought ends. 
The proportion between a fly's mind and a man's is no 
adequate illustration of the state of man with respect to 
God ; because there is some proportion between the 
minds or faculties of two finite creatures, but there can 
be none between finite man and the infinite God. 



One little preacher will endeavor to prove, with a 
great deal of warmth, the truth of Calvinistic principles : 
and another little preacher will clearly demonstrate the 
truth of the Arminian scheme. Good sense will go be- 
tween them, and say, " There are certain things writ- 
ten on these subjects — Thus saith the Lord:" good 



264 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

sense will hesitate to push what is said to all its ap- 
parent conclusions, for — It is written again, Here 
ends all dogmatism with a wise man. 



A mouse that had lived all his life in a chesty says 
the fable, chanced one day to creep up to the edge, and, 
peeping out, exclaimed with wonder — " I did not think 
the w r orld was so large." 

The first step to knowledge, is to know that we are 
ignorant. It is a great point to know our place : for 
want of this, a man in private life, instead of attend- 
ing to the affairs in his " chest," is ever peeping out, 
and then he becomes a philosopher ! he must then 
know every thing, and presumptuously pry into the 
deep and secret councils of God — not considering that 
man is finite, and has no faculties to comprehend and 
judge of the great scheme of things. We can form no 
other idea of the dispensations of God, nor can have 
any knowledge of spiritual things, except what God 
has taught us in his word ; and, where he stops, we 
must stop. He has not told us why he permitted the 
angels to fall — why he created Adam — why he suffered 
sin to enter into the world — why Christ came in the 
latter ages — when he will come to judgment — what 
will be the doom of the Heathen nations — nor why our 
state throughout eternity was made to depend on such a 
moment as man's life : all these are secrets of his coun- 
cil. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations 
of the earth ? God urges it on us again and again, 
that sin has entered — and that we must flee from the 
wrath to come. Christ, in the days of his flesh, never 
gratified curiosity : he answered every inquiry accord- 



APPENDIX. 265 

ing to the spirit of the inquirer, not according to the 
letter of the inquiry : if any man came in humility for 
instruction, he always instructed ; but, when any came 
to gratify a vain curiosity, he answered, as when one 
said, Lord, are there few that be saved? — strive to 
enter in at the strait gate ! — or, as when another 
inquired, Lord, and what shall this man do ! — What 
is that to thee ? Follow thou me ! 



We are too ready to say in trouble, All these things 
are against me ! but a Christian should say, " This or 
that may seem against me ; but there is mercy for me : 
there is a Saviour : there is God's word : and there are 
his ordinances." He should be more careful to enu- 
merate what is for him, than what is against him. He 
should look over the list of his spiritual and temporal 
mercies, as well as that of his sorrows ; and remember, 
that what things are against him are so on account of 
his sin. Our pilgrimage is but short : — let us make 
use of our helps and means. God has given us a guide, 
and a support to lean on : when the clouds gather, we 
have only to look to Jesus. We are not to expect the 
joys of heaven while on earth : — let us be content that 
there is a highway for us to walk in, and a leader to 
conduct us in that way. 

It is a Christian's business, as much as possible, con- 
sistently with his duty, to lessen his cares and occupa- 
tions in the world. It is very common to hear Chris- 
tiana complain what a hinderance business is, while 
they are, perhaps, at the very time, too anxious to in- 
crease it ! There is some fallacy, too, in the complaint : 

x 



266 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

for, where there is a principle of grace, it will prevail 
even in a multitude of engagements. There is much 
difference between seeking busy situations, and being 
found in them. 



What we call "taking steps in life/ 5 are most seri- 
ous occurrences; — especially if there be, in the motive, 
any mixture of ambition. Wherefore cjaddest thou 
about to change thy way ? 



The dispensation of grace to some, is little more than 
a continual combat with corruptions : so that, instead 
of advancing, a man seems to be but just able to pre- 
serve himself from sinking. A boat, with the tide full 
against it, does w T ell if it can keep from driving back, 
and must have strong force indeed to get forward. We 
must estimate grace by the opposition which it meets 
with. 



How blessed is the Christian, in the midst of his 
greatest troubles ! It is true w T e cannot say he is perfect 
in holiness — that he has never any doubts — that his 
peace of mind is never interrupted — that he never mis- 
takes providence : but, after all, his is a blessed condi- 
tion ; for he is supported under his trials, and instructed 
by the discipline : and, as to his fears, the evil under the 
apprehension of which he is ready to sink, frequently 
' does not come — or it does not continue — or it is turned 
into a blessing. 

One of the greatest impositions of Satan on the mind, 
is that of quieting a man in the pursuit or possession of 
what is lawful. So that if it is not murder, or adultery, 



APPENDIX. 



267 



or theft, which he is committing, all is well ! Because 
a man's bed is his own, he may idle away in it his ines- 
timable time ! Because his business is lawful, a man 
may intoxicate his mind with the pursuit of it I 

The very heart and root of sin, is an independent 
spirit. We erect the idol self ; and not only wish oth- 
ers to worship, but w T orship it ourselves. 



We must take care when we draw parallel cases, not 
to take such as are not or cannot be made parallel. For 
instance — we may ask, before we act, "What would 
Jesus Christ do in this case ? or what would St. Paul ?" 
but we cannot be guided by this rule in every thing, 
because Christ's mission was peculiar : it was an un- 
paralleled event : it was for three years only : and like 
a great fire, he was always burning — always intent on 
one point. St. Paul also was in peculiar circumstances: 
he was sent on an especial errand. In every thing 
which is in any degree sinful, we should turn to these 
examples ; but, in the conduct peculiar to our station, 
our application of these examples must be governed by 
circumstances. 



Many inexperienced Christians are apt to look for 
wrong kinds of evidences, and so distress themselves 
about their state. The questions which we should put 
to ourselves, in seeking the best evidences, are — a Do 1 
hate sin! — Is it my grand fear? — Is it my grief, tliat, 
while I have a good hope of pardon, I yet should make 
such ill returns ? Have 1 brokenuess of spirit ?" — (God- 
liness is analogous to the principle of gravitation, in that 
it reduces every thing to its proper centre. 



268 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

The difference between what is called fate, and pp ) 
destination, is something like that of a house with&n i 
a governor, and a house, with a governor. The Fu 
talist says, " Every thing must, of necessity, be as it < 
— as a stone must fall to the ground, fire must asceu 4 
&c. The Predestinarian says, that every thing is dt 
termined by a wise Governor, who inspects, orders 
and superintends the whole machine ; so that a sparrow 
does not fall to the ground, or a hair of the head perish, 
without permission. 

We are so accustomed to see sin within and with- 
out us, that we seldom deeply feel it, or are so shocked 
at it, as we should be were it less frequent. If an in- 
habitant of the court were to walk through some of the 
filthy streets and alleys of the metropolis, how would he 
be disgusted and terrified ! while the poor wretches, 
who live in them, think nothing of the matter. Thus a 
clearer view of sin and of the holiness of God, made the 
prophet cry out, Wo is me ! for I am undone ; be- 
cause I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in 
the midst of a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes 
have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. 



It is much easier to settle a point, than to act on it. 

I once said to myself, in the foolishness of my heart, 
" What sort of sermon must that have been which was 
preached by St. Peter, when three thousand souls were 
converted at once ?" — What sort of sermon ! — such as 
other sermons. There is nothing to be found in it ex- 
traordinary. The effect was not produced by St. Pe- 
ter's eloquence : but by the mighty power of God, pre- 



APPENDIX. 269 

sent with his word. It is in vain to attend one minis- 
ter after another, and to hear sermon after sermon, un 
less we pray that the Holy Spirit accompany his word. 
'Neither is ke that planteth any thing, neither he 
that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase. 



That humility which courts notice, is not first-rate. 
It may be sincere, but it is sullied. Do not sound a 
trumpet, nor say, " Come and see how humble I am !" 



We should be careful never to discourage any one 
who is searching after God. If a man begins in earnest 
to feel after him if haply he may find him, let us be- 
ware how we may stop him, by rashly telling him he 
is not seeking in the right way. This would be like 
setting fire to the first round of the ladder, by which one 
was attempting to escape. We must wait for a fit 
season to communicate light. Had any one told me, 
when I first began to think religiously, that I was not 
seeking God in the right way, I might have been dis- 
couraged from seeking him at all. I was much indebt- 
ed to my mother, for her truly wise and judicious 
conduct toward me when I first turned from my vanity 
and sin. 



We should always record our thoughts in affliction 
— set up way-marks — set up our Bethels — erect our 
Ebenezers ; that we may recur to them in health ; for 
then we are in other circumstances, and can never re- 
cover our sick-bed views. 



A contemplative life has more the appearance of a 
life of piety than any other : but it is the divine plan to 



270 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

bring faith into activity and exercise. We choose 
that sort of walk which we like best : if we love quiet, 
we are for sedentary piety ; but the design of God is to 
root us out of every thing, and bring us into more use- 
ful stations. 



A wretched prisoner, chained to the floor for a 
length of time, would deem it a high privilege to be 
allowed to walk across the room. Another, confined 
to lie on his back till it had become sore, would think 
it a great favor if he might be permitted to turn on his 
side for a few minutes. In a course of habitual pain, 
I am thankful for five minutes' freedom from suffering : 
how forgetful have I been of fifty years of tolerable 
ease ! How unmindful are we of what we call com- 
mon mercies ! 



In order to read the Bible with profit, we must be- 
gin by denying ourselves every step of the way : for, 
every step of the way, it will be found to oppose our 
corrupt nature. 

Christians resemble travellers in a stage-coach. 
We are full of our plans and schemes, but the coach is 
moving rapidly forward : it passes one mile- stone, and 
then another ; and no regard is paid to the plots and 
plans of the passengers. 



A Christian has advanced but a little way in reli- 
gion when he has overcome the love of the world : for 
he has still more powerful and importunate enemies : 
self — evil tempers — pride — undue affections — a stub- 
born will ;— it is by the subduing of these adversaries, 



APPENDIX. 271 

that we must chiefly judge of our growth in grace. 



A friend called on me when I was ill, to settle some 
business. My head was too much confused by my in- 
disposition to understand fully what he said ; but I had 
such unlimited confidence in him, that 1 did whatever he 
bid me, in the fullest assurance that it was right. How 
simply I can trust in man, and how little in God ! 
How unreasonable is a pure act of faith in one like 
ourselves, if we cannot repose the same faith in God ! 



Some negative rules, given to a Young Minister go- 
ing into a situation of peculiar difficulty. 

As I know you have received much good advice, I 
would suggest to you a few hints of a negative kind ; 
with a view of admonishing you to be careful, while you 
are doing your work, not by any mistakes of your own 
to hinder your success — 

I. By forgetting that your success with others is 
very much connected with your personal character, 

Herod heard John gladly, and he did many things; 
because he knew the preacher to be a just and holy 
man. Words uttered from the heart find their way to 
the heart, by a holy sympathy. Character is power : — 

" A good man seen, though silent, counsel gives/' 

If you would make deep impression on others, you 
must use all means to have them first formed on your 
own mind. Avoid, at the same time, all appearances 
of evil — as a covetous or worldly, a vain or assuming, 
careless or indevout deportment. Never suffer jestinp 



272 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

with sacred persons or things. Satan will employ such 
antidotes as these, to counteract the operation of that 
which is effective and gracious in a minister's character. 

II. By placing your dependence on any means, 
qualities, or circumstances, however excellent in 
themselves. 

The direct way to render a thing weak, is to lean on 
it as strong. God is a jealous God ; and will utter- 
ly abolish idols as a means of success. He designs to 
demonstrate that men and creatures are what he makes 
them, and that only. This also should be your en- 
couragement : — looking, in the diligent and humble use 
of means, to that Spirit of life and power without 
whose influence all your endeavors will be to no pur- 
pose, you have reason to expect help suited and ade- 
quate to all your difficulties. 

III. By unnecessarily appearing in dangerous or 
improper situations. 

It is one thing to be humble and condescending : it 
is another to render yourself common, cheap, and con- 
temptible. The men of the world know when a minis- 
ter is out of his place — when they can oppress him by 
numbers or circumstances — when they can make him 
laugh, while his office frowns. Well will it be for him, 
if he is only rendered absurd in his future public admo- 
nitions, by his former compliances ; well if, being found 
like St. Peter on dangerous ground, he is not seduced, 
virtually at least, to deny his Master. 

IV. By suspicious appearances in his family . 
As the head of your household you are responsible 

for its appearances. Its pride, sloth, and disorder will 
be yours. You are accountable for your wife's conduct' 



APPENDIX. 273 

dress, and manners, as well as those of your children, 
whose education must be peculiarly exemplary. Your 
family is to be a picture of what you wish other families 
to be : and, without the most determined resolution, in 
reliance on God, to finish this picture cost what it 
will, your recommending family religion to others will 
but create a smile. Your unfriendly hearers will recol- 
lect enough of Scripture to tell you that you ought, like 
the primitive Bishop, to be one, that ruleth well his 
own house, having his children in subjection with all 
gravity : for if a man know not how to rule his own 
house, how shall he take care of the church of God ? 

V. By meddling beyond your sphere in tem- 
porals. 

Your aim and conversation, like your sacred call, 
are to be altogether heavenly. As a man of God, you 
have no concern with politics and parties and schemes 
of interest, but you are to live above them. There is a 
sublime spirit in a devoted minister, which, as one 
says of Christianity itself, pays no more regard to these 
things, than to the battles of rooks, the industry of ants, 
or the policy of bees. 

VI. By venturing off general and acknowledged 
ground in spirituals. 

By giving strong meat instead oimilk, to those who 
are yet but babes — by giving heed to fables, which 
minister questions rather than godly edifying , 
amusing tlie mind, but not affecting the heart often 
disturbing and bewildering, seldom convincing ; fre- 
quently raising a smile, never drawing a tear. 

VII. By maintaining ackuoivledged truth in your 
own spirit. 



274 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

Both food and medicines are injurious, if administer- 
ed scalding hot. The spirit of a teacher often affects 
more than his matter. Benevolence is a universal lan- 
guage ; and it will apologize for a multitude of defects 
in the man who speaks it ; while neither talents nor 
truth will apologize for pride, illiberality, or bitterness. 
Avoid, therefore, irritating occasions and persons, par- 
ticularly disputes and disputants, by which a minister 
often loses his temper and his character. 

VIII. By being too sharp-sighted, too quick-ear- 
ed, or too ready -tongued. 

Some evils are irremediable : they are best neither 
seen nor heard : by seeing and hearing things which 
you cannot remove, you will create implacable adver- 
saries ; who, being guilty aggressors, never forgive. 
Avoid speaking meanly or harshly of any one : not on- 
ly because this is forbidden to Christians, but because 
it is to declare war as by a thousand heralds. 

IX. By the temptations arising from the female 
sex. 

I need not mention what havoc Satan has made in 
the church, by this means, from the fall to this day. 
Your safety, when in danger from this quarter, lies in 
flight — to parley is to fall. Take the first hint from 
conscience, or from friends. 

In fine, Watch thou in all things : endure afflic- 
tions : do the work of an evangelist : make fall 
proof of thy ministry : and then, whether those around 
you acknowledge your real character or not now, they 
shall one day know that there hath been a prophet 
among them ! 



APPENDIX. 275 

FRAGMENT. 

A Dying Minister s Farewell, 

When a Christian minister feels the springs of life 
giving way ; — his faculties decaying — his voice failing 
— his spirit sinking — though he may not have it in his 
power to say, as the apostle did to his friends, J know 
that ye all, among whom I have preached the king- 
dom of God, shall see my face no more — yet he should 
stand ready to part with his flock, and every sermon 
should be felt by him as if it were his last. 

Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I 
am pure from the blood of all men : for I have not 
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of god. 
And what have I declared that counsel of God to be ? — 
All the curious distinctions of the schools ? — All the pe- 
culiarities insisted on so strongly by different sects ? — 
No such thing! I have followed the great apostle in 
testifying repentance toward God and faith to- 
ward our Lord Jtsus Christ. 

There has been a slander brought against religion — 
that we are not agreed, as to the truths we set before 
men. I say, it is false ! We are agreed. All, who 
know and think any thing of real religion, are agreed, 
that the substance of the matter is contained in repent- 
ance toward God, and faith toward our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

If a man, like the prodigal, feels that lie Iras hit his 
father's house — turned his back on God — ami is be- 
come a fool and a madman lor so doing— and that there 
is no hope but. in his returning again : it such a change 
of mind is wrought in him by the II0I3 Spirit, as he 



276 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

wrought in David, when he cried, Wash ?ne thorougly 
from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin : if, 
like Peter, he goes forth weeping bitterly — feeling that 
Aehas acted foolishly and wickedly, and that his only 
hope is in the mercy of God through the Saviour — then 
the man enters so far into the spirit of religion — repen- 
tance toward God. 

But does he rest in this ? Nay, he knows that if he 
could offer thousands of rams, and ten thousands of 
rivers of oil, he could make no satisfaction for the sin 
of his soul. He looks to the atonement !— to Him, 
whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in his blood. 

Repentance toward God must be accompanied by 
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 

He came unto his own, and his own received him 
not. But as many as received him, to them gave he 
power to become the sons of God, even to them that 
believe on his name : which were born not of blood, 
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, 
but of God. These men are enabled to say with St. 
Paul, " I count all things but loss for the excellency 
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. I have 
no refuge but in him — no other hope — no other plea. 
All my confidence before God is grounded on this — that 
He suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might 
bring us to God." 

If a minister testifies these things — if he speaks plain- 
ly and simply these grand essential truths of God's 
word — though he die before another Sabbath return, 
he may rest in peace — leaving the issue in God's hand. 

The ground of a minister's own solid satisfaction can- 



APPENDIX. 277 

not be popularity : for even to Simon Magus all gave 
heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This 
man is the great power of God! — neither can he 
ground his satisfaction on the exercise of strong and en- 
larged talents : for even Balaam was a man of extra- 
ordinary endowments — nor can it be on his success : — 
for many, saith our Lord, shall come to me, and say, 
Have we not done many wonderful works in thy 
name, and in thy name cast out devils ? Then will 
I profess unto them, I never knew you ! As though 
he had said, " I deny not the works, but ye are evil 
men !" 

But a minister's satisfaction must be grounded on 
the faithful discharge of his office in the delivery of 
his message. A Prince sends a special messenger to 
his rebellious subjects, with offers of pardon : in ex- 
amining his conduct, he will not inquire whether they 
received and approved him or not : the question will 
be — " Did you deliver my message ? did you deliver it 
as one that believed it yourself? as one in earnest?" 
If a man should come and tell you, with a cheerful coun- 
tenance and careless air, that your house was on lire, 
and that you and your children would be burnt in the 
flames if you did not make haste to escape, you would 
not believe him. You would say, " He does not belie\ e 
it himself, or he would not be so unfeeling as to speak 
of it in such a manner." 

If a minister delivers his message, then no scorn, no 
reproach that may be cast upon him, can lake away hi;s 
rest — lie has done his duty. When the king sent out 
his servants to invite men to his least, they excused 
themselves on various pretences : but the ser\ ant might 

Y 



278 REMAINS OF MR. CECIL. 

say, ■ No matter ! — I have declared the message — I 
may rest in having done my part, though no success 
seems to attend my pressing invitations." 

I would lodge, therefore, my appeal in your con- 
sciences — / take you to record — I appeal to con- 
science : for there is a conscience in man ; and, in se- 
rious moments it will speak out. It wrung from Jos- 
eph's brethren that confession, We are verily guilty 
concerning our brother ! It forced Balaam himself to 
cry out, Let me die the death of the righteous ! and 
let my last end be like his ! It tormented the traitor 
Judas into that self-accusation, I have sinned in that I 
have betrayed the innocent blood! 

When a young person has been talked to by his pa- 
rents — when they have represented to him the misery 
and ruin of a wicked course, and of bad habits — he 
might affect to brave it out at the time ; but he has 
gone afterward weeping through the streets — because 

CONSCIENCE WOULD SPEAK. 

But when the Spirit of God softens a man's heart — 
when he is made to feel what an evil and bitter 
th rig it is to sin against God — then a faithful min- 
ister's appeal to that man is like that of St. Paul to the 
Tiiessalonians : Ye are tvitnesses, and God also, how 
liolily, and justly, and unblameably we behaved 
ourselves among you that believe. As you know 
how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged ev- 
ery one of you (as a father doth his children), that 
ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you 
unto his kingdom and glory. For this cause also 
thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye 
received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye 



APPENDIX. 279 

received it not as the word of men, but, (as it is in 
truth J the word of God, which effectually worketh 
also in you that believe. 1 Thess. ii. 10 — 13. 

It is most affecting to see to what miserable shifts 
men will have recourse, in order to evade the truth. 

" It is irrational/' says one, " to insist so much on 
certain peculiarities of doctrine !" — But whose reason 
shall be the judge ? — For the preaching of the cross 
is to them that perish foolishness : but, It is written 
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will 
bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 

" It is unnecessary," says another — But has God 
commanded ; and do we pronounce his commands 
unnecessary ? 

" It is disreputable" — Did Christ regard reputa- 
tion? — Nay, he made himself of no reputation. 

" It is a narrow way — Ah ! there, indeed, you pro- 
nounce truly ! The way of heaven is a narrow way ! 
3ut what says the judge ? Wide is the gate, and 
broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and 
many there be which go in thereat ; because strait 
is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth 
unto life, and few there be that find it. 

Oh how distressing is it to observe many, to whom 
we cannot but fear, the Gospel which they hear "preach- 
ed from Sunday to Sunday, is but the savor of death ! 
If God has made a difference in any of us, let us not 
forget to whom we are indebted. 

Brethren ! you are my witnesses. I take you to re- 
cord, that you have had the whole counsel of God de- 
clared unto you ; that all curious and metaphysical in- 
quiries, all critical and conjectural points, have been 



280 REMAINS OF MR CECIL. 

carefully avoided for your sake. I have attempted to 
clear my ministry of all disputable subjects, in order to 
set before you the plain fact of the death and resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ, and of salvation through him. 

But consider ! YOU also must give an account ! I 
must give an account whether 1 plainly and simply de- 
clared the truth, as one who felt its importance, and 
was in earnest. You must give an account, whether 
you have gone away from this place, as if you had 
heard nothing to the purpose, and immediately dissipat- 
ed your thoughts with some trifling subject — some mere 
secular concern ; — or, whether what you heard brought 
you to your knees before God, beseeching him to seal 
and impress his truth upon your hearts. 

Oh consider the satisfaction you will find, in really 
embracing all the counsel of God. Consider how 
soon the time will come, in which it must be your only 
satisfaction, that you have embraced it ! Let it be 
your prayer, as you go hence — "O God, give me grace 
to repent with that repentance which is unto life ! — 
Make me serious ! Teach me what I must do to be 
saved ! Help me to believe the record which thou hast 
given of thy Son. Give me faith to receive the atone- 
ment — to set to my seal that there is none other name 
under heaven given among men whereby we must be 
saved, but the name of Jesus Christ." 

Come to your Saviour with HUMILITY as a sinner : 
come with gratitude and love, " For ye are not 
come unto the mount that might be touched, and that 
burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and 
tempest and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of 
words :" when, " so terrible was the sight, that Moses 



APPENDIX. 281 

said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are come 
unto mount Sion ; and unto the city of the living God 
— the heavenly Jerusalem ; and to an inumerable com- 
pany of angels ; and to the general assembly and 
church of the first-born, which aie written in heaven ; 
and to God, the Judge of all ; and to the spirits of just 
men made perfect ; and to Jesus the Mediator of the 
new covenant ; and to the blood of sprinkling, that 
speaketh better things than that of Abel. See, then, 
that ye refuse not him that speaketh ! — but, receiving a 
kingdom which cannot be moved, let us hold fast 
grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with 
reverence and godly fear." Heb. xii. 18 — 28. 



LINES 

ON 

THE DEATH OF A CHILD AT 
DAY-BREAK 

BY THE REV. MR. CECIL 

u Let me go % f»r the day breakelh/' — Genesis, xxxii. 36 

Chase here longer to detain me, 

Kindest mo her, drowned in wo, 
Now thy kind caresses pain me ; 

Morn advances — let me go. 

See yon orient streak appearing ! 

Harbinger of endless day; 
Hark ! a voice the darkness cheering, 

Calls my new-born soul away ! 

Lately launched a trembling stranger, 
On this world's wide boisterous flood, 

Pierc'd with sorrows, toss'd with danger, 
Gladly I return to God. 

Now my cries shall cease to grieve thee, 

Now my trembling heart find rest; 
Kinder amis than thine receive me, 

Softer pillow than thy breast. 

Weep not o'er th p se eyes that languish, 
Upward turning toward their home; 

Raptur'd they'll forget all anguish, 
While they wait to see thee come. 

There, my mother, pleasures centre — 

— Weeping, parting, care or wo 
Ne'er our Father's house shall enter — 

— Morn advances — let me go. 



LINES BY MR. CECIL. 283 

As through this calm and holy dawn, 

Silent glides my parting breath, 
To an Everlasting Morning — 

Gently close my eyes in death. 

Blessings, endless, richest blessings, 

Pour their streams upon thy heart ! 
(Though no language yet possessing) 

Breathes my spirit ere v/e part. 

Yet to leave thee sorrowing rends me, — 

Now again this voice I hear ; 
Rise ! — may every grace attend thee, 

Rise, and seek to meet me there ! 



THE END. 



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